Website against child porn

2005-03-14 23:14

Stockholm - A new tool aimed at combating child pornography on the internet was launched on Monday by the Swedish branch of Ecpat, an advocacy network, which also opposes child prostitution.

The software, "Keep My Net Clean," is a plug-in to popular web browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox.

An icon is added to the browser's toolbar. By clicking on the icon, the surfer opens a simple questionnaire about suspicious websites or news groups which can be sent anonymously to groups like Ecpat that have set up child-pornography hotlines.

The software was developed by Net Clean Technologies (www.keepmynetclean.org) with support from the World Childhood Foundation, whose patron is Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Swedish Internet service provider Telia.

Mats Albinsson of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (Ecpat) said most surfers who came across child pornography moved on to other sites without reporting them because the content was so offensive.

'It would reduce the risk'

"It is a problem. It is understandably a natural reaction," Albinsson said, adding that if more surfers reported the images "it would reduce the risk that other people would experience the same thing."

A survey commissioned by Ecpat suggested that 10% of Swedish web surfers or 500 000 people, had come in contact with child pornography. Eight in 10 had not tried to report it.

Information Ecpat receives about questionable sites will be passed on to a Swedish police unit specialised in tracking child pornography.

In the near future, Ecpat also planned to connect other child-pornography hotlines in a joint database, perhaps also with Interpol's database in Lyon, France.

'Just the tip of the iceberg'

According to Ecpat, 118 people who used credit cards to buy child pornography were arrested last year in Sweden.

Scores of suspected paedophiles were also investigated in neighbouring Denmark, Norway and Finland last year.

Ecpat said the number was "just the tip of the iceberg".

The launch of the software coincided with reports from neighbouring Denmark that an appellate court ruled on Monday that a 51-year-old judge should be fired for possessing and sharing child pornography.

The judge was revealed a year ago on a tip from Scotland Yard.

Telia, Sweden's largest Internet service provider, made an about-turn last week, announcing it would introduce a filter against child pornography.

The system would be similar to that adopted last year by neighbouring Norway's largest internet service provider, Telenor, and police.

- SAPA