Europol has supported authorities from 19 countries in a large-scale hit against child sexual exploitation that has led to 25 arrests worldwide. The suspects were part of a criminal group whose members were engaged in the distribution of images of minors fully generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
It’s not a gray area at all. There’s an EU directive on the matter. If an image appears to depict someone under the age of 18 then it’s child porn.
So a person that is 18 years old, depicted in the nude, is still a child pornographer if they don’t look their age? This gives judges and prosecutors too much leeway and I could guarantee there are right-wing judges that would charge a 25yo because it could believed they were 17.
In Germany, the majority of suspects in child porn cases are minors. Valuable life lesson for them.
Is it though? I don’t know about the penalties in Germany but in the US a 17yo that takes a nude selfie is likely to be put on a sex offender list for life and have their freedom significantly limited. I’m not against penalties, but they should be proportional to the harm. A day in court followed by a fair amount of community service should be enough of an embarrassment to deter them, not jail.
In Germany, if 14-18yolds make nude selfies then nothing happens, if they share it with their intimate partner(s) then neither, if someone distributes (that’s the key word) the pictures on the schoolyard then the law is getting involved. Under 14yolds technically works out similar just that the criminal law won’t get involved because under 14yolds can’t commit crimes, that’s all child protective services jurisdiction which will intervene as necessary. The general advise to kids given by schools is “just don’t, it’s not worth the possible headache”. It’s a bullet point in biology (sex ed) and/or social studies (media competency), you’d have to dig into state curricula.
Not sure where that “majority of cases” thing comes from. It might very well be true because when nudes leak on the schoolyard you suddenly have a whole school’s worth of suspects many of which (people who deleted) will not be followed up on and another significant portion (didn’t send on) might have to write an essay in exchange for terminating proceedings. Yet another reason why you should never rely on police statistics. Ten people in an elevator, one farts, ten suspects.
We do have a general criminal register but it’s not public. Employers generally are not allowed to demand certificates of good conduct unless there’s very good reason (say, kindergarten teachers) and your neighbours definitely can’t.
So a person that is 18 years old, depicted in the nude, is still a child pornographer if they don’t look their age? This gives judges and prosecutors too much leeway and I could guarantee there are right-wing judges that would charge a 25yo because it could believed they were 17.
Is it though? I don’t know about the penalties in Germany but in the US a 17yo that takes a nude selfie is likely to be put on a sex offender list for life and have their freedom significantly limited. I’m not against penalties, but they should be proportional to the harm. A day in court followed by a fair amount of community service should be enough of an embarrassment to deter them, not jail.
In Germany, if 14-18yolds make nude selfies then nothing happens, if they share it with their intimate partner(s) then neither, if someone distributes (that’s the key word) the pictures on the schoolyard then the law is getting involved. Under 14yolds technically works out similar just that the criminal law won’t get involved because under 14yolds can’t commit crimes, that’s all child protective services jurisdiction which will intervene as necessary. The general advise to kids given by schools is “just don’t, it’s not worth the possible headache”. It’s a bullet point in biology (sex ed) and/or social studies (media competency), you’d have to dig into state curricula.
Not sure where that “majority of cases” thing comes from. It might very well be true because when nudes leak on the schoolyard you suddenly have a whole school’s worth of suspects many of which (people who deleted) will not be followed up on and another significant portion (didn’t send on) might have to write an essay in exchange for terminating proceedings. Yet another reason why you should never rely on police statistics. Ten people in an elevator, one farts, ten suspects.
We do have a general criminal register but it’s not public. Employers generally are not allowed to demand certificates of good conduct unless there’s very good reason (say, kindergarten teachers) and your neighbours definitely can’t.
Sounds like some actual common sense was applied to German law. Good to hear.