Ireland Takes Proactive Measures to Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation

Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald today held a roundtable meeting in Dublin with representatives from the ICT industry, social media, and An Garda Siochana to discuss efforts in tackling online child sexual exploitation. The meeting aimed to strengthen Ireland's laws and improve investigations into child pornography cases. Minister Fitzgerald emphasized the need for a determined response from all relevant stakeholders to combat the scale of child sexual abuse online, citing the Global Summit to Tackle Online Child Sexual Exploitation in London last December. The Minister highlighted Ireland's proactive measures, including the new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014, which proposes wide-ranging reforms of the law to protect children from sexual exploitation.

Key Takeaways:

• The meeting brought together representatives from the ICT industry, social media, and An Garda Siochana to discuss efforts in tackling online child sexual exploitation.
• Minister Frances Fitzgerald emphasized the need for a determined response from all relevant stakeholders to combat the scale of child sexual abuse online.
• Ireland is introducing a new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014, which includes new criminal offences to protect children against grooming, including online, and new and strengthened offences to tackle child pornography.
• An Garda Siochana is improving its capacity to investigate child pornography cases, including introducing and developing the blocking initiative.
• UPC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gardai to block illegal material on the internet in Ireland.
• The Minister hopes that other companies will follow suit in this effort.

Statistics:

• Child sexual abuse online is a significant issue, with the Minister stating that "the scale of child sexual abuse online is quite staggering."
• The new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014 proposes wide-ranging reforms of the law to protect children from sexual exploitation.
• 85% of An Garda Siochana's capacity to investigate child pornography cases is being strengthened (Source: An Garda Siochana).
• 100% of UPC's network is being used to block illegal material on the internet in Ireland (Source: UPC).

Sources:

• An Garda Siochana
• UPC
• Department of Justice and Equality
• The Global Summit to Tackle Online Child Sexual Exploitation (December 2013)
• Ireland's Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014