Public Opinion is Clear: Urgent Legislation Required to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation! Read the story

May 17th is World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

Posted on May 16, 2013

Today is World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. Most of us use communication technology in our everyday life, however, we don’t often think about the link between technology and the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). It is a sad fact that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used everyday to facilitate CSEC. Child sex offenders use MSN, Skype, Facebook and other social media platforms to groom and exploit children. Given the rapid developments in technology, current laws are proving ineffective at stopping this exploitation. For example, most existing laws forbid the possession of child pornography but do not account for live streaming of child pornography. ECPAT International fights to make ICTs safer for children. We work with diverse stakeholders, including Facebook, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and MasterCard to ensure that the benefits of ICTs are not compromised by those that seek to misuse them for the sexual exploitation of children. ECPAT International has developed and implemented projects such as an Internet Safe School certification programme and a Code of Conduct for Internet Service Providers. We have also conducted youth-led research on the use of ICTs in Latin America and Africa to better inform education and awareness activities. Read our innovative youth-led research on African children’s use of information and communication technologies here: Part 1, Part 2