RIGHTS: GLOBAL RESPONSE NEEDED TO COMBAT INTERNET CHILD ABUSE

Marwaan Macan-Markar
Inter Press Service English News Wire
09-15-2001
BANGKOK, Sep. 14 (IPS) -- Indonesia's police have put those
operating child pornography websites on notice: they will be
tracked down and punished.
The authorities were pushed to such action following
revelations from U.S. officials in August of an Indonesian link
to one of the world's largest commercial child pornography
networks. Indonesian webmasters, according to U.S. officials,
were among those identified in the network that was broken up.
In Japan, the police have a clearer picture about the Internet
serving as a linchpin for pedophile networks. According to the
National Police Agency, almost 50 of the 319 Internet crimes
logged during the first half of this year involved "buying sex
with minors."
"Other Internet-related crimes included 55 possible violations
of child-pornography laws," according to a media report.
These are but two examples of how Asian countries are coming
to terms with the darker side of Internet, as a medium assisting
those driven to sexual abuse of children. Currently, there are
over 2,000 pedophile sites located in many countries across the
world containing "pedophile material or promoting sex-related
tourism," according to a study done this year by an
anti-pedophile organization in Sicily, Rome.
"There are actually two related issues with the Internet: the
first is the distribution of pornographic materials of children;
the other is online solicitation of children by pedophiles," says
Brenda Platt, spokeswoman for the Bangkok-based ECPAT
International, a prominent child rights group lobbying to end
child prostitution and child trafficking.
"For many years now, ECPAT has considered child pornography to
be a problem that needs to be addressed; the Internet has
increased this necessity," she adds.
And South and East Asian societies cannot ignore the fact that
it is their children who are appearing in the recent production
of child pornography, according to an ECPAT study on children and
the Internet.
"There are questions about where visual child pornography is
being produced. Common belief is that many images are decades old
and the recent pictures are produced in South and East Asia," the
study reveals.
"Child pornography has turned to the Internet as a medium
where pedophiles and pimps contact each other, exchange
information on bulletin boards about their sexual interest in
children, post links to teen porn sites and pass around photos in
newsgroups," writes Alecks Pabico, of the respected Philippine
Center for Investigative Journalism, in a paper presented during
a seminar here in late August.
Online solicitation, on the other hand, evolves out of
connections made in Internet chat-rooms frequented by children.
Often, pedophiles pursue an activity called "grooming," a process
where they develop a relationship with a child met in a
chat-room, and then solicit personal information, deliver gifts
and subsequently send invitations to meet.
According to Anilkumar Samtani, assistant professor at
Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, children
unwittingly contribute to the violation of their own privacy when
participating in online communication.
"The Internet can be and has been used to entice children to
join groups of dubious origins or with questionable aims," states
Samtani, in a paper presented at the Bangkok seminar last month
on "The Impact on Children of the Internet and New Media."
"Quite apart from the solicitation of children into child
pornography, the availability of pornographic material that can
be accessed by children can also be viewed as a transgression on
the rights of children," he adds.
However, Pabico admits, monitoring child pornography is
difficult. "Investigation requires membership via credit card and
password verification. Culprits are also protected by anonymous,
encrypted communications."
Then there are other obstacles, such as the "inadequacy of
media reporting" on the crimes against children in cyberspace and
political apathy, he says.
What happened in the Philippines last year -- with two cases
of online child pornography -- drive home this point. Although
reported to law enforces, it "did not result in any charges flied
against the alleged website operators," he adds.
"The websites -- Paradise, Lolita and Lollipop -- featured
Asian children, including possibly Filipinos, in varying nude
poses and sexual acts."
For Pabico, lack of media coverage will result in further
child abuse. "Unreported, violations against the rights of
children will only continue unabated."
What is required, he adds, is for journalists to study the
nature and dimension of online child pornography. "The
surreptitious character of cybercrimes will definitely require
knowledge of the Internet's technical side."
But to achieve decisive results, Samtani underscores the need
for an international response given the global nature of
Internet. "The effective investigation and successful prosecution
of those who make child pornography available on the Internet
require international collaboration. Since the technology used is
global, the response must be global."
What occurred in 1997, in fact, illustrates the idea he has in
mind. That year, a computer child pornography ring operating in
21 countries was uncovered. "To bring law enforcement to bear on
the ring required an unprecedented level of cooperation between
the police and investigators in many countries," he says.
According to Platt, the ECPAT spokeswoman, the current effort
to build a body of international
legislation is due to be taken
up during the Second World Congress against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children, due to be held in December in Japan.
Internet service providers (ISPs) also have a distinct role in
combating such child abuse, says Pabico. "Logs can trace specific
calling line numbers to specific IP (Internet Protocol) addresses
that are vital in prosecuting cybercrimes against children."
ISPs, however, are not bound to cooperate and may also be
reluctant to do so, since it raises such sensitive issues as the
"privacy concerns" of their clients.
To circumvent that, Pabico argues for a self-regulatory body
from among ISPs and content providers to "enforce and oversee"
implementation of codes of conduct that stresses "zero-tolerance
of child pornography."

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