Australians fueling paedophile video surge

Australian paedophiles are fuelling market demand for extreme content according to senior police officers.

The Australian reports the explosion of child exploitation footage is so great the police can no longer arrest their way out of the problem.

The problem is made more difficult by digital encryption services and the authorities needing help to police the dark web.

“Reports of child exploitation involving either Australian victims or offenders nearly doubled to 18,000 last year — with each potentially relating to hundreds of images, videos and live streams. She said the material was also becoming more violent, and the victims were getting younger,” Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Debbie Platz told the Australian.

“Why people get sexually gratified from watching a child be tortured and murdered is beyond me,” Ms Platz said.

“But that’s what turns them on and that’s what they’re seeking to do.”

“Most of the videos and images that we see of the ultimate killing of a child I would say is happening overseas, but being purchased by Australians.”

“So Australians are driving the market, absolutely, but not just Australians.’’

“The government could give me every government worker and I still will have a problem with child exploitation,” she said.

Home Affairs secretary ­Michael Pezzullo commended mainstream tech companies who are working with the Australian government and police to take down abhorrent content.

The problem lay on the Dark Web, said Pezullo.

“We’re doing a lot of work ­especially when you start going beyond what’s called the clear web into the dark web, and we really need the collaboration of industry to assist us in looking at managing content at different layers of the web”.

Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec, who heads NSW Police’s child abuse and sex crime squad, said law-enforcement agencies feared more children would be targeted as new regions came online.

“What we’re going to see is a whole bunch of people — young people — being potentially vulnerable to predators and everything else that we’re seeing in other countries at the moment,” Kerlatec said.

“We’re expecting a large proliferation in child abuse material occurring.”

According to The Australian research suggests material featuring abuse of a child is put online every seven minutes and there is evidence to say the problem will get much worse.

There are also fears 5G coverage will add to the problem.

The technology is being rolled out worldwide and in places where there has previously not been reliable internet coverage.

Source

Additional reading

News category: World.

Tags: ,