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In the United States, the problem of child pornography on the Internet is becoming out of the ordinary, according to a New York Times survey. Authorities, companies and internet platforms are overwhelmed by the phenomenon. Last year, more than 45 million photos or videos involving children were reported by tech companies.
With our correspondent in New York, Loubna Anaki
For months, New York Times reporters interviewed victims, families, police and even pedophiles. On the internet, the circulation of photos or videos showing children raped, assaulted and sometimes tortured has never been so important. In 10 years, the number of images of children has increased from less than one million to 45 million.
Online, pedophiles can share, publish, exchange for years with impunity. They are more and more sophisticated in computer science and manage to circumvent the controls thanks to very advanced cryptography techniques.
The New York Times quotes, for example, the example of a recent case involving an Ohio pedophile who managed to hide more than 3 million photos and videos on his computers.
Opposite, the teams of investigators responsible for this type of crime are outdated and lack financial and technical resources. Legally, the giants of the internet, they are obliged to report these videos and photos to the authorities when they find, but nothing requires them to look for them to eliminate them.
Last year again a video showing a man raping a 6 year old child had become viral on Facebook before being deleted.
While companies such as Google and Facebook are committed to fighting child pornography, many are catching up and are still slow to respond.
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