The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday expressed support for plans to set up a European Union (EU) coalition of stakeholders against commercial sexual exploitation of children on the Internet.
"The commercial sexual exploitation of children online is a fast-growing, low-risk and profitable business. The coalition will facilitate properly coordinated law enforcement operations and other complementary disruptive actions against those profiting from this horrendous crime," said Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot, who is in charge of justice affairs.
The initiative for such a coalition was presented by Missing Children Europe and other stakeholders on Tuesday.
The coalition will bring together all stakeholder groups engaged in the fight against the commercial distribution of images of child sexual abuse on the Internet, in particular law enforcement authorities, non-governmental organizations, banks, credit card and on-line payment companies, Internet service providers and other Internet-based private operators.
The EC, the executive body of the EU, is considering setting up a mechanism to stop credit card or electronic payments for purchasing images of child sexual abuse on the Internet.
In 2007, there was a 16.4-percent increase in child abuse image reports processed by the Internet Watch Foundation hotline compared to 2006, the EC said.
Source: Xinhua
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