Stop Online Child Sexual Exploitation
The Internet has become an active part of children’s lives, where they play, learn and socialise. Children constitute an estimated one third of internet users worldwide and over 800 million children are active on social media. Yet, often the internet is not designed with children’s safety in mind. Act now with Terre des Hommes, sign the petition and call on political leaders to support new EU legislation.
The Internet is not safe for children
Children are highly likely to encounter harmful content, including of sexual nature. A study of 8- to 12-year-olds from 30 countries showed that children who own a smartphone and are highly active online had an 89% chance of exposure to potentially harmful content, such as sexual content (DQ Institute). Children signing up for a new social media account are likely to receive inappropriate content within as little as 24 hours (5Rights).
About one in two children globally and 54% in the Netherlands has received sexually explicit content from an adult. 1 in 3 (34%) children globally and 55% in the Netherlands were asked to do something sexually explicit online they were uncomfortable with during childhood (WeProtect).
How does child sexual exploitation take place online?
Children face many different sexual harms online, online child sexual exploitation refers to the most serious harms. The most common is the dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), either from abuse that took place offline or from enticing, pressuring or manipulating a child to generate such content or ordering live-streaming of child sexual abuse. The US NCMEC, which receives all the reports from US – based internet companies, has received 88.3 million CSAM files in 2022.
Grooming is a concerning danger for children, whereby predators deceive children to initiate sexual contact that can lead to online and/or offline child sexual abuse, as well as sexual extortion. Online grooming is on the rise, with an increase in reports to NCMEC by 82 % in 2022.
Factsheets
More information about the terms used and explanations in the fact sheets.
Online child sexual abuse and exploitation
Is the use of the Internet as a means to exploit children sexually. It includes all acts that result in sexual exploitation or causes a child to be sexually exploited or that results in or causes images or other material documenting such sexual exploitation to be produced, bought, sold, possessed, distributed, or transmitted. See more in our Factsheet on Online child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
It refers to material (CSAM) that visually depicts a child or a person appearing to be a child engaged in real or simulated sexually explicit conduct. See more information and data in our Factsheet on Child Sexual Abuse Material.
Grooming and detecting it
It is the process of establishing/building a relationship with a child either in person or through the use of the Internet or other digital technologies to facilitate either online or offline sexual contact with that person. See more information and data in our Factsheet on Grooming and Detecting it.
Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) & intersectionality
Intersectionality is a framework that helps us think about factors that can be empowering or oppressive. It helps us better understand the compounded oppression of gender and race to a limitless set of factors, including socioeconomic class, age, sexual orientation and disability. See more in our Factsheet on Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) & intersectionality.
Factsheet EU Regulation against Child Sexual Abuse
The European Commission has proposed a regulation that will create a harmonized legal framework for detecting and reporting child sexual abuse and child exploitation for providers of goods and services on the internet. The regulation also establishes the new EU Center that will serve as a knowledge center for data on online sexual abuse/exploitation. Read more in our Factsheet EU Regulation against Child Sexual Abuse.
Factsheet child protection and privacy
Protecting children from online childsexual abuse and exploitation(OCSAE) is about ensuring strongsafeguards and global standards forboth privacy and protection ofchildren online.
Prevention of CSAE
Prevention emerges as a crucial pillar against child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE).Picture it as a shield aiming to minimise the risksof harm and protect the most vulnerable. But tackling CSAE requires more than just one approach; it demands a diverse arsenal of tools, given its complex and ever-changing nature.
Detecting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
The detection of CSAM helps in stopping the on-going trauma of the child victim of CSAM and their fear of being recognized. The proactive search for CSAM is vital as it will identify CSAM more effectively than public reporting in order to remove this content. Meaningful technological tools for this search are PhotoDNA and classifiers. See more in our Factsheet Detection of CSAM.
Child Safety by Design
Child safety by design is about placing the safety of child users at the centre of thedesigns of online services, whilst placing responsibility for child users’ safety ononline service providers.
Age assurance and age verification
Knowing the age of a child offers aframework for child safety bydesign, taking stages of childhoodinto account, and responding tothe risks and opportunities onlinefor children at all differentdevelopmental stages.
Factsheet protecting children outside the EU
The internet is not confined to our national borders. Online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSAE) crimes are typically borderless, and perpetrators may be located in different countries to their victims. This means that OCSAE is a global issue, requiring a global response.
Solutions
Child sexual exploitation is a complex problem to solve, the online dimension adds a layer of complexity in attempting to tackle it. While not one solution will miraculously solve the issue, solutions do exist which if deployed in parallel can strongly reduce the risks of harm and facilitate adequate response to find offenders and identify victims.
In our research on Child Safety by Design, we have identified 5 solutions that are proven to work in tackling online child sexual exploitation:
- Parental controls adapted to children’s needs
- Empowering children and parents to better handle online risks.
- Strong privacy by default features customised to children’s age
- Strengthening age verification (see our factsheet on Age verification & assurance)
- Deploying technologies that detects online child sexual abuse and exploitation (see our factsheet on Grooming & Detecing it)
Child participation
We asked children what solutions they would design. Their solutions were similar to those identified in the academic literature, such as age verification or detecting risks:
- Stronger reporting mechanisms
- More visible rules
- Taking extra measures to protect content from children
- Using popular media to deliver safety messages
EU legislation is crucial to ensure children are safe online
TdH NL, as part of the Terre des Hommes International Federation, advocates for a strong EU legislation to protect children online. The EU proposed CSA Regulation would ensure the continuing of detection of child sexual abuse and grooming, ensuring that child victims are rescued and that their images no longer circulate online. Child protection and the right to privacy go hand in hand and can both be achieved.
We support the EU Regulation because it ensures:
- Strong child safety by design requirements for companies to ensure they design platforms safe for children, including strong age verification and assurance
- Tech neutral approach and future proof legislation so that innovative solutions can be deployed and tackle the evolving online safety challenges
- Holistic approach that place child safety and children needs at the centre
- Non-EU children to be covered by the Regulation so that they can obtain support in having their images removed from platforms in the EU.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands works with the ECLAG coalition of over 65 child rights organisations advocating for a strong EU legislation tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation online. Learn more about ECLAG.
We also advocate for the Dutch government to support the EU CSA Regulation:
- Read our urgent call to the Ministry of Justice and Security to support the EU CSA legislation.
- 11 organisations urgently call the Members of Parliament to make the online world safer by supporting the new EU Regulation.
- Urgent call for cabinet and MPs to support European legislation against online child abuse.
