Fighting Child Pornography: A Review of Legal and Technological Developments

When “Sweetie” is not so Sweet: Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for Child Pornography

“…The United States has a brief, yet significant history regarding the foundation of its current child pornography laws. 101 Starting with the Constitution, the First Amendment pronounces that "Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech." 102 This coveted constitutional protection, unfortunately, has been the subject of multiple issues regarding its precedent over child pornography.…”

“…106 Later in 1977, The Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act was the first federal act that criminalized child pornography. 107 The Act aimed to protect minors from being filmed, photographed, or recorded in sexual acts and prohibited transporting or mailing such material for "immoral purposes." 108 However, the Act only covered materials that were considered obscene under Miller.…”

“…108 However, the Act only covered materials that were considered obscene under Miller. 109 The first child pornography case, New York v. Ferber, partially rectified the child pornography and obscenity issue. 110 The Court ruled that production and distribution of child pornographic materials was not a right protected under the First Amendment as the material was directly related to child abuse.…”

“…110 The Court ruled that production and distribution of child pornographic materials was not a right protected under the First Amendment as the material was directly related to child abuse. 111 In this case, the defendant sold two videos of adolescent boys masturbating to an undercover officer, violating two laws combating the distribution of child pornography. 112 The Court recognized the thin line where "laws directed at the dissemination of child pornography run the risk of suppressing protected expression by allowing the hand of the censor to become unduly heavy."…”

Framework for a Single Global Repository of Child Abuse Materials

“…While the base definition of online child sexual abuse is almost universally accepted as a crime, other types of images might not constitute a criminal act in every jurisdiction. For instance, child abuse images in animated or drawing form are not illegal in some countries (Eggestein and Knapp, ). Therefore, every country should create a specially tailored hash‐list to avoid any complications in the courts: in particular, to ensure a conviction.…”