Trends in online offence against children online and international regulations and responses

1. Trends in online offence against children online and international regulations and responses Conference against sexual crimes against children online Jakarta, 29-30 October 2012 Anjan BoseProgram Officer, ICT and child protection ECPAT International

2. Topics to be discussed 1) Current trends in offending and new platforms used by young people 2) Challenges with current legal systems 3) International guidelines and legal frameworks- benchmarks 4) Collaborative practices and industry response. 5) Recommendations

3. Trends in online offending

4. New platforms used for exploiting children • Social Networks • Peer to Peer file sharing networks • TOR ( The Onion Router) networks • Cloud storage and encrypted file distribution

5. Emerging forms of sexual exploitation of children • Real time streaming of sexual abuse • Interactive video chat rooms • Online games ( MMORPGS) • Virtual 3D platforms

6. Legal challenges

7. Observations • Built around obscenity clauses • No distinction for child abuse images • Does not link to viewing of images online • Does not cover grooming offences • No benchmark for judiciary- sentencing guidelines weak for severe child abuse images Challenges • Open to interpretation • False perception that obscenity laws and anti pornography laws will adequately cover child abuse materials • Lack of understanding of issues related to sexual exploitation online • Lack of drive (from civil society and states for legal harmonisation)

8. 1. Definition of child pornography OPSC Article 2: “any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes”

9. 1.1 “Any representation, by whatever means” A child-safe definition of child pornography should include visual, audio and written representations of children.

10. 1.2 Virtual child pornography According to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual covers the production and possession of pornographic material: consisting exclusively of simulated representations or realistic images of a non-existent child”. Domestic legislations criminalizing virtual child pornography :

11. Observations

12. 2. Offenses covered by legal standards • The Optional Protocol requires states parties to cover under their criminal or penal law, all acts of : • producing • distributing • disseminating • importing, exporting • offering • selling • possessing for the above purposes child pornography.

13. 2.1 Offenses covered by domestic legislation  In relation to child pornography In relation to obscene materials 

14. Pointsto note • Other than the Philippines, no countries define child abuse images (among the ones discussed) • Criminalising mere possession applies to general obscene material, in some countries for the intent of distribution) • Can apply to non real images (such as drawings, but not specific to children ) • Does not cover grooming offences

15. 2.2 Mere possession of child pornography Both the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse cover mere possession of child pornography.

16. 2.3 Knowingly accessing child pornography The Council of Europe on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse has established the offense of “knowingly obtaining access, through information and communication technology, to child pornography” (Art. 20-1 f). This offense covers cases of persons who intentionally access and view child pornography websites without downloading (e.g. those who access material in real-time)

17. 2.4 Solicitation of children for sexual purposes (grooming) The Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse criminalizes the intentional proposal, through information and communication technologies, of an adult to meet a child for engaging in sexual activities with him or her or to produce child pornography. This proposal should be followed by material acts leading to such a meeting. (Art. 23)

18. New technologies and Impacts • Current trend in real time distribution of videos through • On-demand streaming • Peer to peer file sharing • TOR and other encrypted networks Challenges • Cybercrime laws do not address viewing of materials that are not downloaded/stored/possessed • Cybercrime laws in some cases (ex. Thailand gives specificity such as defining data as bits stored in computer systems, but fails to define dynamic content that is not stored) • Lack of drive (from civil society and states for legal harmonisation)

19. Internet reporting Hotlines • What • Why • How • Collaborations

20. Recommendations

21. ECPAT International – Legal Framework on Child Protection against Exploitation Online Good Practice Example Legislation Addressing Online Exploitation of Children:The CoE Convention 201 on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse • Entered into force in 2004 • Purposes of the Convention: • prevent and combat the sexual exploitation and abuse of children • to protect the rights of victims of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse • to promote national and international cooperation against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children

22. ECPAT International – Legal Framework on Child Protection against Exploitation Online Good Practice Example Legislation Addressing Online Exploitation of Children:The CoE Convention 201 on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse • Addresses child pornography in a comprehensive manner: • Article 20 provides a comprehensive definition of child pornography; • Article 20 prohibits the mere possession of child pornography; • Article 20 explicitly prohibits virtual child pornography; • Article 20 & 21 prohibits, inter alia, the following activities related to child pornography: producing, offering/making available, distributing/transmitting, offering, possessing; • Article 20 prohibits knowingly pertaining access, through information and communication technologies to child pornography; • Article 23 prohibits the solicitation of children for sexual purposes (grooming).

23. Framework of protection and environment of the Child and young people

24. Framework of protection of the child

25. Research on new dimensions of ICT ICT Products and services Desktop, Gaming, Mobile applications External Evaluators Internal R&D Safety review Body Children and Young people

26. Cooperation across all sectors:Areas for action • Policy-making • Private sector cooperation • Educational initiatives • Care and welfare • Law and legal reform • Law enforcement programmes • Research

27. Law enforcement • Prioritise the child’s welfare • Cooperation across borders • Resources for coordination • Review of evidence/court procedures • Strict protocols for image databases

28. Q&A

29. Thank you !ECPAT InternationalECPAT, a global network fighting to end commercial sexual exploitation of children www.ecpat.net