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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
Police surveillance of Habbo & Digikids <strong>National</strong> Expertise Group
In addition to its own moderators, the multi-player game Habbo also makes use of the police in
order to maintain a safe online environment. This involves police surveillance on the Internet,
without criminal offences and/or making use of investigative powers coming into play (Internet
research). With the advent of Internet surveillance, a new task for the police has been created,
which calls for prudence. The behaviour of the police officers is constantly regulated and made
visible. 807 Online surveillance is different to surveillance in the analogue world. It is not possible to
stop and question someone on the Internet, for example. The objective for the police on Habbo
is to determine what the online role of the police should be and to gauge the effect of the police
presence on Habbo, but also to gain an insight into the problems that are present amongst young
people and to gain experience in the field of chatting. On the one hand, the ‘Infobus’ provides information
twice a month about various subjects such as loverboys and the safe use of the Internet.
On the other hand, personal contact takes place by means of a notice board, e-mail and chat, but
also while the digital ‘community police officer’ is on patrol in the online community. 808 Internet
surveillance on Habbo seems to be an important, easily accessible way for young people to get
in touch with the police. In this way, sexual abuse cases in both digital and analogue worlds have
come to light. 809 This initiative forms part of the Digikids <strong>National</strong> Expertise Group of the Dutch
police, which publishes recommendations concerning the role of the Dutch police with regard to
the online safety of young people. The expertise group takes, as its starting point, the importance
of three preconditions for the police action in cyberspace, namely raising awareness amongst the
police and communicating to young people (being digitally aware), the online accessibility of the
police in order to carry out its main tasks (being digitally-accessible) and the competency of the
police to be able to implement these tasks in practice (being digitally-competent). 810 In this way,
the group of experts is carrying out preparatory work to clearly show whenever the content of chat
conversations between individuals (children and parents or children amongst themselves) would
give companies reason to contact the police. 811 The three conditions, namely of being digitallyaware,
digitally-accessible and digitally-competent, appear relevant to all organisations involved
with young people. The Kindertelefoon service, run by the Youth Care Agency, has also been present
in the ‘Infobus’ since the summer of 2010. 812 Similar organisations that provide assistance to victims
would be able to enter into similar partnerships with private parties.
Infrastructure of the Internet
ISPs are already contributing to the efforts to combat child pornography, for example by co-operating
in investigations carried out by investigative authorities and by removing child abuse materialfollowing
notification of it, see box ‘Prospect of removal’. These obligations arise indirectly from the Convention
807 Stol, 2010, p.69.
808 ‘Habbo’ presentation ‘Internet Surveillance – Young People’ 17 June 2011 in Ossendrecht.
809 Spreekuur op Habbo [Habbo consultation], Right!, April 2011.
810 ‘Subsidy application for the purpose of Action plan “Naar een digibekwame politële jeugdtaak” [Towards
a digitally competent police task for young people], Digikids Expertise Group, 19 August 2011 (not
public)
811 Verbal information from the Digikids <strong>National</strong> Expertise Group, 8 September 2011.
812 ‘De Kindertelefoon in de Infobus!’ [The Kindertelefoon in the Infobus], Habbo, 6 July 2010, www.habbo.nl/
articles/1399-de-kindertelefoon-in-de-infobus/in/category/safety (viewed 9 September 2011).