Co-ordinated international efforts targeting fewer than 3,000 websites could
effectively tackle the bulk of online child pornography, according to the
Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
The industry-funded watchdog recently carried out an in-depth study on the
scale of the issue.
Concerted international action to disrupt persistent top level domains would
block access to hundreds of thousands of online images depicting child abuse,
the IWF believes.
The figure of 3,000 websites represents a "concrete target" and forms the
basis for an international campaign.
"This year we have highlighted what we believe is a manageable number
worldwide of such websites known to us," said IWF chief executive Peter Robbins.
"We hope that this revelation, and the analysis and intelligence behind the
numbers, will lead to a better understanding of the issue and justify the need
for more international partnerships to pool resources and thinking in order to
find solutions."
We have highlighted what we believe is a manageable number of such websites known to us
Peter Robbins IWF
The study showed that the number of child porn domains fell by almost 10 per
cent between 2006 and 2007 thanks in large part to the internet industry's
efforts to police itself.
However, despite the decline in the reported number of child porn websites,
the increasingly extreme nature of online content is a cause for concern.
The IWF said that one in 10 images appears to involve children under the age
of two, and a further one in three appears to depict children between the ages
of three and six.
The organisation, which looked at English language only websites, found that
the majority of child abuse sites are based in the US and Russia. Just a tiny
minority can be traced to the UK.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article