Homepage -> The problem
Overview of the Problem
The Internet is a wonderful medium for both education, research and entertainment and, indeed, for the conduct of business. This can sometimes be forgotten when we are looking at the downside issues on the Internet.
Without resorting to extreme, inappropriate and inevitably unworkable measures of censorship and restriction, the Internet will always include users who represent the darker elements of our society.
INHOPE believes, therefore, that it is not a question of guaranteeing the removal of all illegal and harmful material on the Internet or of guaranteeing the impossibility of access to such material. Rather it is a question of working towards a safe environment for Internet users which will protect our children and respect the privacy and dignity of our citizens.
To achieve an understanding of what we can do to address the downside of the Internet, we must first confront and understand the nature of these downside issues.
The key areas of concern are:
Illegal content
There is a wide range of illegal activities which occur on the Internet. Many offline crimes now take place on the Internet but there are also a number of new crimes which occur, because of the range of technology which can connect to the Internet.
Illegal activity is divided into two different types - criminally illegal activity which is investigated and prosecuted by Law Enforcement Agencies and civil illegal activity which can be prosecuted by a wide range of civilian bodies.
INHOPE focusses on responding to criminally illegal content and activity.
To achieve an understanding of what we can do to address this, it is worthwhile highlighting the different types of illegal content commonly found on the Internet:
- Child Pornography
- Illegal Activity in Chat Rooms
- Online Hate
Child Pornography / Child Sexual Abuse Images
Many people find it difficult to imagine pornographic images of children, and therefore do not understand what is meant by "child pornography". In some countries this is referred to as "child abuse imagery" to reinforce that behind images of child pornography there is abuse of real children.
Child pornography has different legal definitions in different countries. The minimum defines child pornography as a picture that shows a person who is a child and engaged in or is depicted as being engaged in explicit sexual activity.
In some cases "morphed" images can constitute child pornography. One example of a "morphed image" would be a picture that has been altered, for example a picture of a naked man in a sexually explicit pose where the head of the man has been replaced with that of a boy.
One of the issues that causes disagreement is the age of consent to sexual relations which differs from country to country. In addition, legislation differs on whether possession of child pornography is a crime, whether an actual child had to be involved and whether morphed images constitute pornography.
To report suspected child sexual abuse images on the internet click here.
Paedophile Rings
A paedophile ring is a group of persons working together across the Internet in different countries and jurisdictions to collect and distribute child pornography for their own gratification. This can also involve sharing expertise and experiences on avoiding detection and planning criminal activities against children.
There is a strong perception that the Internet has become a major factor in the development of paedophile rings worldwide. Recent convictions around the world have supported this perception and the dissemination of child pornography is causing major concern to the International Agencies engaged in the protection of minors. As these paedophile rings increasingly use advanced telecommunications technologies such as encryption and code names, they have become more and more difficult to uncover.
Commercial Websites
Up until recent years Child pornography web sites were very rarely commercial in nature and are motivated by personal gratification and the need to seek out like-minded persons. However, there is a worrying trend in the growth of commercial websites where fees are charged. Usually these can be paid by credit card.
These sites tend to be located in legal jurisdictions which are not sufficiently up-to-date with regulations governing such activity, often in lower economic areas.
It is possible to have password or controlled access to websites. These access passwords are sold on the Internet with a subscription fee. Passwords can be purchased remotely using credit cards for remote access. Once the password is available, the website can be accessed in the normal way from any Internet connected machine in the world.
Web sites can be hosted anywhere in the world making international co-operation all the more crucial when dealing with these websites. Recent progress has been made in this area through the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography which brings the financial sector on board alongside hotlines and child welfare groups to combat commercial child pornography on the Internet.
Online Grooming
Chat rooms are very popular on the Internet and can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world. In chat rooms strangers can have typed or voice conversations with each other in real time. There are two main types of illegal activity reported in chat rooms:
Paedophiles Preying on Children
Because the conversations are public and perceived as anonymous, children often feel they are safe. One of the dangers however is that children don’t know who they are talking to.
Paedophiles use chat rooms (sometimes posing as children or teenagers themselves) to initiate conversations with likely victims. They can be skilled at eliciting as much information as possible about location, interests and even sexual experiences from children. The next step for the paedophile may be to show examples of pornography, both adult and child. This is then used to undermine the reluctance of children to participate in a sexual encounter. It is also used to prevent the victim from seeking protection from their parents and teachers.
A study entitled Chat Wise, Street Wise released in March 2001 by the Internet Crime Forum in the UK, found five million young people are online in the UK and a quarter of all children use chat rooms.
Girls aged 13 to 17 are most at risk, such as in the case of 30-year-old Patrick Green from Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, who lured a 13-year-old girl to his home for sex. He was jailed for five years in October 2000.
Paedophile Rings in Chat Rooms
Chat rooms also offer paedophiles the opportunity to discuss their fantasies online to like minded individuals. They can share child pornography through private sessions as well as sharing expertise and experiences on avoiding detection.
The anonymous context of the chat room appeals to paedophiles. In addition, they leave very few electronic footprints and are difficult to trace.
The main chat room service is called Internet Relay Chat (IRC). A hybrid arrangement somewhere between e-mail and IRC is emerging in the form of ICQ services which allows private communication to take place in real-time mode between parties subscribing to a particular directory.
Social Networking websites
In more recent years, the arrival of social networking websites which permits children and adults to communicate and share documents and images online is a cause for concern. These systems offer excellent opportunities for people with similar interests to meet and chat but unfortunately are sometimes used for adults to meet with and groom children for abuse.
A social network service focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.
Click here to report illegal activity in chat rooms.
Click here for tips to protect children online.
Hate Speech
The growing number of websites promoting hate speech on the Internet is a new area of concern. The uncensored nature of the Internet provides the opportunity for those with racist and xenophobic views to promote these to a global audience.
Investigating hate speech related Internet content is extremely complex. However offensive some of the material might be, often it is not illegal under criminal law. Each report to a hotline will be investigated in depth and judged against the legislation of the country where the content is hosted.
Differences in national legislation exists, but typically the common ground across countries is where websites encourage individuals to act on the views presented. Incitement to action as a result of hate speech may then be classified as illegal.
By reporting these websites to hotlines, progress can be made in this area. In 2005, German hotline judgendschutz.net successfully achieved the shut down of several right wing extremist websites run by the Anti-Antifa-Network (AAN) hosted by an Argentinian ISP.
To report suspected illegal online hate sites click here.
Protecting Children Online
Many sites on the Internet can be harmful for children, even if they are not illegal. Access to adult pornography would be one example that most parents would be aware of but online danger doesn’t stop there.
Recent studies have estimated that almost two thirds of content on the Internet is user generated through blogs, discussion forums, newsgroups etc. Some of these sites may contain content that could be harmful for children such as promotion of suicide, bulimia or anorexia. Like any other public place, parents and guardians can take steps to protect children on the Internet and the following tips offer a good starting point.
Tips for online safety:
- Keep your computer in a family room, not in a bedroom, that way you can supervise its use.
- Interact with your child while they are on the Internet - expressing an interest can be both informative and reassuring.
- Encourage children to show you anything that makes them uncomfortable.
- Ask your ISP about how special filtering programs that can be used to help protect your child.
- Use your children’s expertise and learn from them.
The article has been sourced from https://www.inhope.org