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 Law
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Kids, the Law & the Internet
The Internet is global. That means in order to control
what is accessible on the Internet, we have to regulate
it globally. That involves setting global standards &
being able to enforce the laws on a worldwide basis.
But the biggest problem with worldwide efforts is the difference
in worldwide standards & laws. US laws & constitutional
standards don’t cut it everywhere else in the world. What’s
acceptable & legal in the United States may be criminal
elsewhere. We highlight certain legal decisions & developments
on our front page at WiredPatrol.org.
Check it out frequently.
Violations against children on the Internet have gained
global attention. The United Nations, Interpol, the Council
of Europe, the G8 & the OECD to name a few, have all
proposed incentives to address the issue of child pornography
on the Internet.
All governing bodies will agree that in addition to enforcing
laws a major emphasis is needed on prevention.
When pornography is involved, most standards fluctuate
widely around the world. Distribution & production of
child pornography is illegal in most places in the world.
The age of the children to qualify as child pornography
differs worldwide & some countries outlaw possession,
while others do not. In some countries attempts to solicit
a child to an online meeting is illegal, while others require
an actual attempted molestation. Some law enforcement agencies
can go undercover & pose as a child, hoping that a predator
will try to lure them instead of an actual child, which
other countries consider that entrapment. It's difficult
to keep track of the laws & developments. But by being
a global network, we can get cooperation from many jurisdictions
in different cases.
Recent decisions by the US Supreme Court have changed the
reach of US laws in child pornography cases & in connection
with children accessing graphic sexual images online. So-called
morphed images, images which are created using a child's
head & an adult's body, but which is changed to appear
to be a child engaging in sexual activity is no longer considered
child pornography under existing US federal laws. But images
showing children engaged in sexual activity, or posed in
a lewd or lascivious fashion or with a focus on the genitalia
will still qualify as child pornography, & prosecuted
as such.
The more recent decision has found that a law designed
to protect children from being exposed to commercial sexually
explicit images at pornography sites may be salvageable,
but further findings must be made by another court.
In Canada legislation has been introduced to make it illegal
to seek child pornography online. It is illegal to download,
print or save any images in any country or jurisdiction where
possession is illegal, but this takes this one step further.
This would prevent help groups, such as our Child Exploitation
Team, from searching for child pornography sites to report
to law enforcement agencies. In the UK, legislation has been
introduced making grooming of children an offense. "Grooming"
is when someone attempts to seduce a child into meeting them
online. This could be problematic, but is believed by many
to be necessary to stem the increases in children being lured
into off-line meetings with child molesters. Laws are important,
but ever bit as important are prevention programs. We are
happy to put child molesters behind bars, but better they
can't molest because children are on to their tricks &
refuse to meet them off-line. Got a question, Ask
Parry! If you have legal information you'd like to share,
let us know
or if you are a member of the legal community anywhere in
the world, join
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