Fighting to eliminate digital hiding places for child abusers
David Cameron will place GCHQ and the National Crime Agency (NCA) at the centre of a fight to eliminate digital hiding places for child abusers.
Responding, Prof Will Stewart from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) said: “These moves sound very sensible. Modern communications may help offenders to access indecent material but it also enables the law enforcement agencies to monitor and respond to evidence in ways that were never possible in the past when grooming happened only by personal contact and pictures were sent by post.
“The protection of children from online exploitation and abuse is best addressed by parents following the excellent advice provided by GetSafeOnline and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection agency CEOP, and teaching their children to do the same.
“The internet was designed to provide adaptable routing even after serious damage and this resilience, whilst vitally helping us all, does make even well-intentioned censorship difficult. There is no quick technical fix that will protect victims – the most effective approaches use education, responsible parenting and more resources for enforcing the law.”
