The Problem
Cyberspace is home to more than one million images of tens of thousands of children being subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the industry generates an estimated 50,000 new child sexual abuse images each year globally.
Victims are young and images are violent. For example, of the 68,092 confirmed reports of child sexual abuse materials received in 2015 by the U.K.’s Internet Watch Foundation (IWF):
- 69% of victims were 10 years old or younger
- 3% of victims were 2 years of age or younger
- 34% depicted the rape or sexual torture of a child.
Further analysis of reports received by IWF showed that 21% of webpages confirmed to contain child sexual abuse materials were “commercial” in nature.
The reality is nearly unimaginable. The urgency of the situation cannot be ignored.
Actions for Companies
How Can a Company Take Action?
In addition to collaborating with industry partners, law enforcement and NGOs, a company can take action to protect its systems from those who seek to sexually abuse and exploit children.
As a first step, companies in the financial and technology sectors should ensure that their terms of service clearly state that a customer who trades or sells child pornography, or engages in other types of child sexual exploitation, will be removed from the service and reported to law enforcement whenever possible.
“The crime of DIGITAL CHILD EXPLOITATION & TRAFFICKING requires co-operation and close partnerships between Public/Private Organisations. Only through close commitment of resources, due diligence and the use of a robust legal framework can these partnerships work for the safety of children.” Colm Gannon, Senior Inspector, Digital Child Exploitation Team - Community Safety, New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs
Beyond terms of service, more and more countries are enacting legislation to address child pornography, which may provide grounds for a company to take action against a user. In 2016, ICMEC published the 8th edition of Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review, a groundbreaking study of national legislation in 196 countries, which looks to see if national law:
- Exists with specific regard to child pornography;
- Provides a definition of “child pornography”;
- Criminalizes computer-facilitated offenses;
- Criminalizes the knowing possession of child pornography, regardless of the intent to distribute;
- Requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to report suspected child pornography to law enforcement or to some other agency; and
- Requires ISPs to develop and implement data retention and preservation provisions.
- Since the 1st edition of the report was published in 2006, 127 countries have refined or implemented new anti-child pornography laws.
Additionally, a company may want to investigate banking and anti-money laundering laws in their country. These laws address the proceeds that result from crime and may prove to be an additional tool to help combat this illicit and repugnant trade.
Read more by looking at our Financial Coalition’s Best Practices Papers, released in 2016, 2015, and 2014 below: