THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) ON MINORS AND CHILDREN THROUGH ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION

Pornography has become a major problem of today cyberspace, extended through the Internet at the planetary scale. The phenomenon has deep social and economic implications affecting a huge number of children under the age of eighteen who are subjects of sexual abuse and exploitation. Child pornography generally refers to images or films depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child. Because child pornography involves children, the test of acceptability is much stricter than for regular pornography, as consent cannot be given either by the child or guardian. Child welfare professionals are worried that paedophiles will use the third-generation mobile technology to access child sex sites, take pictures of sex with children and trade in images of abuse.