Cell porn explosion forecast

2004-01-12 17:06

London - Child pornography crime has risen 15-fold since 1988 - and masses more porn could be unleashed by internet mobile phones, warns a new report.

The huge rise in child porn offences, according to a Sky News report, is due mainly to the increase in use of the internet, according to the report from children's charity NCH.

And now the launch of cellophones which can access the internet will make the trade even more widespread and difficult to combat, experts fear.

Prepaid cellphones bought for cash cannot be traced as there is no record of who owns the handset.

And advanced 3G - third generation - technology will allow paedophiles to access child porn on pay-as-you-go phones with impunity.

Problem has changed beyond recognition

Children's charity NCH (formerly National Children's Homes) said 549 people were charged or cautioned in 2002 for child porn offences, compared to just 35 in 1988.

"The internet is about to go mobile, and that could make many things more difficult to prevent or detect," says NCH internet consultant John Carr.

"The scale of the problem has changed beyond recognition in just over a decade.

"Almost all of the issues of child safety on the internet that exist today become much more complex when the internet goes on the street."

Cellphone giants Vodafone and O2 say they are both developing technology which would bar and filter out any inappropriate web content on a child's cellphone.

- News24