Distribution of child pornography: “One third of the identified suspects were under the age of 18”

The dissemination of child pornographic content is punishable by law. But more and more students are sharing such pictures and videos in chats and social networks. We spoke to Katja Winter, an employee in the central office for police prevention at the State Criminal Police Office in Saxony.

Ms. Winter, the spread of child pornography has increased significantly among schoolchildren via social networks and especially messenger services such as WhatsApp. What content are we talking about specifically? And how do you explain this phenomenon?

Indeed it is. According to police crime statistics (PKS), in 2020 in Saxony around a third of the suspects identified in the distribution, acquisition, possession and production of child pornography via the internet were younger than 18 years of age – and that’s just the bright field. We assume that the dark field is many times larger, since deeds are rarely displayed in this setting. We are particularly concerned because the number of suspected children and young people in this area of ​​crime increased by 45 percent from 2019 to 2020. And this trend appears to be continuing.

Very often it is about photos, videos or often “stickers” that show concrete acts of abuse on children. Young people, but also children, spread and share this content via messenger services such as Snapchat or WhatsApp, in online game chat groups or via social networks such as Facebook. Our investigators from the criminal police find out during interrogations that the pupils are usually not at all aware of what they are passing on. We have the impression that they often act out of recklessness or out of a habit of forwarding everything. And most of the underage suspects simply do not know that these are criminal images and what that means for the victims. Some also want to shock, provoke or bully their peers.

Are young people even aware of their actions and the associated consequences?

As already mentioned, the underage disseminators are mostly unaware that they are forwarding depictions of real acts of abuse against children. They cannot reflect that by consuming such content they are reproducing victimization and also contributing to the spread of child pornography to more and more people, thereby possibly promoting sexual violence against children.

In addition, many underage suspects do not know that they are liable to prosecution from the age of 14 for distributing child pornography content. The members of a WhatsApp group, for example, can also make themselves liable to prosecution because they come into so-called “possession” when they receive such a message. This means that involuntary recipients are also the focus of investigations. Of course, our colleagues have to confiscate data carriers such as mobile phones or PCs. Then they are gone for a long time.

Since the actions described have even been legally classified as crimes since July 2021, schoolchildren should definitely be informed about the phenomenon and criminal liability.

Pupils own or share voluntarily created »porn selfies« of others, but often without the consent of the person portrayed. How should or must schools behave once they are aware of this?

You raise another issue. Sending revealing or intimate photos of yourself to your partner is normal in relationships today. It becomes problematic or criminally relevant if these images or videos are created under duress, blackmail or without the knowledge of the person concerned or are simply forwarded without the consent of the person depicted. This often happens after the end of a relationship, for example to take revenge or to embarrass someone. The photo or video becomes child pornographic material if it depicts a person under the age of 14 with sexual reference. Anyone who forwards, shares or blackmails something like this is also committing a serious crime.

If school management, teachers or parents find out that such content is circulating in the students’ messenger groups, the police urgently appeal to seek an educational conversation. Recipients are advised not to forward these messages under any circumstances and to make it clear before leaving the chat group that these types of images or videos are undesirable. In general, anyone who receives child pornography involuntarily should report the sender to the network operator or the Internet complaints office. Reporting to the police, on the other hand, can help identify the (usually adult) producers of images of abuse and hold them accountable. Families can also take civil action for those affected, for example if the right to their own image has been violated.

What measures are the police taking to stop the spread of child pornography in digital media? What can teachers and parents do?

The police have launched a nationwide publicity campaign entitled “sounds wrong” to educate girls and boys about this phenomenon. For example, we use special video clips and short text posts, which we also publish on the social media channels of the Saxon police, in order to address children and young people in particular where they are very often “on the go” and get information. Parents, teachers and other adults from the social environment are also made aware of this. You can find them on the campaign page, among other places www.soundswrong.de Background information and information on criminal liability as well as recommendations for dealing with such messages and reporting them.

What concrete support is there for schools that want to educate on this topic? Where can you turn?

Back in November last year, with the support of the State Office for Schools and Education, we informed all school administrations and teachers in Saxony about a detailed article on the school portal and on the Information portal »School quality development« informed and suitable teaching materials recommended. In addition, in the first quarter of 2022, all secondary schools in the Free State of Saxony will receive posters to hang up in the school building. We would like to explicitly address the students and point out the problem. In order to be able to react to questions from learners or parents, teachers should therefore deal with this topic.

The Saxony police offer supporting information in their parent and teacher events under the title “Dangers in dealing with digital media”. The problem is also briefly touched upon in prevention events for pupils at secondary schools on the subject of »cyberbullying« or »copyright law and data protection«. But – and this is particularly important to me to point out – the police’s preventive services supplement, but expressly replace not the violence prevention and sex education work under the responsibility of the schools. If schools are interested, please contact the Prevention Service in your local police department.