Protection of minors in Luxembourg: 52 child pornography cases opened in 2021
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LUXEMBOURG – The Ministers of Justice and Internal Security took stock of staged pornography of minors in the Grand Duchy.
The Belgian authorities have observed an explosion (+95%) in the number of child pornography cases between 2019 and 2020, prompting them to sharply increase subsidies to the “Childfocus.be” foundation, which fights against the sexual exploitation of minors in line. What about Luxembourg? wondered the LSAP deputies Mars di Bartolomeo and Dan Biancalana who questioned the Déi Gréng Ministers of Justice and Homeland Security on the issue.
In his answer, Sam Tanson and Henri Kox indicated that in Luxembourg, between 2019 and 2020, “the figures of child pornography cases opened with the Public Prosecutor’s Offices almost doubled”, going from 56 to 114. A link which is explained by “a concerted punch action by the police and the prosecution in July 2020 during which 46 searches were carried out”, pleaded the ministers.
“It is therefore not possible to deduce from the increase in the number of cases ipso facto an amplification of this phenomenon, especially since the number of cases opened again in 2021”. 52 cases including 45 in which there is actually an infringement.
A single prison sentence
On the justice side, in 2021, 21 final convictions were pronounced in this area. Seven demanded prison, one of which was jail (a sentence of less than three years). Also requested were six fines and five bans on exercising a professional, voluntary or social activity involving regular contact with minors.
Three people are also prohibited from exercising certain rights as provided for by article 11 of the penal code (for example being part of a family council, running a school or teaching or being employed in an educational establishment) .
The ministers recall that the websites www.childprotection.lu and www.stopline.beesecure.lu makes it possible to report illegal content to the Grand Ducal police.
“Our society has failed today to protect children”
Brussels presented on May 11 a draft regulation imposing obligations on online platforms and messaging services to detect, report and remove child pornography images, expressing concern about the explosion of this illegal content. A proposal followed closely by the technology industry, which fears a drift towards mass surveillance.
The European Commission also advocates the establishment of a European center to combat child sexual abuse, an independent agency which would be based in The Hague (Netherlands) like Europol, with which it will act. In particular, it would be responsible for providing reports of this content by the platforms and would provide assistance to victims to obtain their removal. “Our society has failed today to protect children,” said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
95% of reported content came from Facebook
She said that in 2021 worldwide, 85 million videos and photos involving child sexual abuse were reported, according to data from the US Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said the Swedish official.
More than 60% of this content is hosted on servers located in the Union. “Reports have increased by 6,000% over the last ten years” in the EU, according to Ylva Johansson. Up to 95% of content reports worldwide in 2020 came from Facebook alone, while “the problem is not limited to a single platform”, notes the Commission, which also notes that the Covid-19 pandemic with its lockdowns made the problem worse.
(mc/AFP)