EU Want Laws for Mandatory ISP Blocking of Child Porn

The European Union turns up the heat so governments will be able to force ISP blocking of CSAI

Clearly the European Union seeks consistency and increased cooperation with a raft of initiatives to impact child sexual abuse.

Sexual exploitation and abuse of children is increasing, with 10-20% of children in Europe predicted to be victims of sexual assault during their childhood.

"Research also suggests that this phenomenon is not decreasing over time, but rather that certain forms of sexual violence (such as abuse of teenagers) are on the rise. The child victims portrayed in pornography are getting younger, and the images are becoming more graphic and more violent." Memo/09/130

Shame and fear make fighting child sexual abuse difficult. The Internet have made it easier to groom cfhildren and to produce and distribute images. CSAI is produced in different countries with different and sometimes non-existent laws to apprehend and convict those perpetuating the industry. Involvement in viewing CSAI for some leads to later abuse of children.

The European Union has stepped up the heat to create consistency amongst a raft of measures, across Europe, encouraging further cooperation to combat child sexual abuse. For ISPs there may be little choice but to enforce blocking of CSAI. Blocking access to imagery greatly reduces the numbers of people accessing this material out of curiosity or unintentionally.

Repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA the European Commission adopted a Proposal for a new Framework Decision to combat sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Article 18 of the proposal deals with "Blocking access to websites containing child pornography". Article 18 states that:

"Each Member State shall take the necessary measures to enable the competent judicial or police authorities to order or similarly obtain the blocking of access by internet users to internet pages containing or disseminating child pornography, subject to adequate safeguards."

Once adopted, a European Commission framework decision obliges member states to bring national law in line with its provisions.

In the UK where blocking CSAI has been largely voluntary and has had the support of ISPs to achieve 95% coverage, achieving the last 5% may now be achievable. Previous resistance based on cost of technology and membership to the IWF are no longer an excuse since the introduction of a fully externally hosted service by Watchdog International Ltd remove these obstacles.

To inquire about the UK or Australian Externally Hosted WhiteBox solution email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

For further press go to The Register an article by Chris Williams - 2nd April 2009 11:44 GMT

For Memo /09/130 25/3/2009 - Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA.

For the Commission of European Communities Proposal itself.