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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
create a shocking effect and to encourage a higher percentage of clicks on the link (and in this way to
generate a profit). 840 General search engines, such as Microsoft’s Bing and Google, are also able to fulfil
a role in stopping searches by perpetrators of child pornography. The above-named companies employ
a zero tolerance policy with regard to child abuse material. 841 However, it emerges from Google Insights
for Search that the search engines are, nevertheless, indeed used by people who are searching for child
abuse material, considering the fact that entering search terms related to child pornography or child
erotica still forms part of the interests of Dutch users of Google. 842 In addition to this, it appears that
Google’s filter technology seems to utilise only the Latin alphabet. 843
The ‘Duty to Ascertain’, and the online adult industry
With reference to the task of tackling (post) adolescent child pornography 844 , Cabinet Members
Arib and Gerkens submitted a motion to ensure that minors who look like they are of age are not
used by the adult industry for the production of commercial adult pornography. 845 One idea to
combat this situation was the introduction of a duty to ascertain certainty (an obligation to obtain
certainty about a situation), which must provide for regulations, whereby operators of websites
that offer adult pornography must be able to demonstrate that the models who are displayed have
reached the age of eighteen. This idea was declined by the Minister for Security and Justice on the
basis of the argument that the existing instruments provided under criminal law are sufficient. 846
840 www.asacp.org/?content=webmaster (viewed 24 May 2011). Similar thumbnails and written advertising
links that claim to link to child pornography websites do not usually do so. Instead, the links send visitors
to legal websites featuring child models and adult pornography, see European Financial Coalition,
2010.
841 www.docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=148505 (viewed 24 May 2011).
842 www.google.com/insights/search/#q=%22preteen%20torrent%22%2C%22preteen%20
bbs%22%2Cpreteen%20model%2Cpreteen&cmpt=q (viewed 24 May 2011). The Netherlands is in the
world top 10 for various search terms.
843 In April 2011, an intern at BNRM searched for the term ‘child pornography’ in the Cyrillic script on www.
google.nl for documents involving the issue of tackling child pornography in Russia. Consequently,
numerous hits referred to material constituting child abuse material. Following reports by BNRM to
the Hotline Combating <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> on the Internet, the reporting centre also actually seemed
to find child abuse material.
844 Adolescent and post-adolescent child pornography is material that depicts minors who look like they
are of age, see Lanning (2010, p.83) and §1.4.1.1.
845 Parliamentary Papers II, 2007/08, 28 684, no.143.
846 The Minister argued that the actual age of the involved person does not need to be proven in all cases
for the penalisation of child pornography; Article 240b of the Dutch Criminal Code is based on the
apparent age of the depicted person. Action may even be taken against images of persons of age who
appear to be minors on the image. The Public Prosecution Service has taken the position that a duty to
ascertain is neither necessary nor desirable. The Public Prosecution Service referred to various adverse
effects: the detection and prosecution of child pornography offences could even be made more difficult
as a result. Resulting in part from consultation with the Public Prosecution Service, it has been
concluded that even without the statutory implementation of a duty to ascertain, the objectives of the
motion can still be complied with in a suitable manner (see Parliamentary Papers II, 2010/11, 32211, no.31
and Parliamentary Papers II, 2009/10, 32 123 VI, no.79).