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Implementation
customers if they are aware of its existence. 859 Where it concerns ISPs in countries that do not fall
under the Directive and/or do not want to implement a voluntary NTD 860 , requests for mutual legal
assistance are sufficient in most cases. 861 ISPs that do not (want to) remove child abuse material
(consequentially) do indicate that criminal investigations carried out by the police are, nevertheless,
desirable. 862 Existing arrangements with the <strong>National</strong> Police Services need to be changed in
order to achieve this pro-active approach according to the British model. The European Commission
argues that the response time of the police should be reduced to a maximum of two days. 863
Internet community
Various reporting centres that are described in this report are based on citizen participation. The reporting
of indications to the <strong>Child</strong> Abuse Counselling and Reporting Centre, Stichting M. [Report Crime
Anonymously], Meldpunt Kinderporno op Internet [Hotline Combating <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> on the Internet]
and Meldpunt Cybercrime [Cyber Crime Reporting Website] are based on the principle that citizens can also
play a part in combating child abuse material. Showing the public a photo of an unknown victim on the
television also touches on this point. This explicitly involves the participation of citizens in the detection
process, where the police or Ministry of Justice take the initiative, as opposed to detection by the citizens
themselves. 864 Various individuals report that they are searching for (perpetrators of ) child pornography
offenses, for reasons not of a sexual nature, and in so doing are taking part in civilian detection. 865 Civilian
detection has drawbacks in principle and in practice. Detection is primarily a police matter, which
requires professional knowledge and expertise. In addition to this, the privacy of potential suspects is
under threat, as civilians are not bound by the privacy guidelines that apply to government bodies. 866 In
addition, accusations can take place that prove to be false accusations.
3.8.4 Direction of public-private sector partnerships in the Netherlands
Since the blocking of websites involving child pornography has not been enforced in the Netherlands,
the Internet Safety Platform no longer has an active working group that promotes public-private sector
partnerships and gives them direction. At the same time, it is unclear as to how current interventions
from public-private sector partnerships link in with the focus formulated by the police, the Public Prosecution
Service and the Ministry of Security and Justice, and as to how these interventions fit in with the
overarching focus of the effort to combat child pornography in the Netherlands.
859 Stol et al., 2008, pp.85-86. The liability referred to here is purely reactive: Article 14 of the EU Electronic
Commerce Directive safeguards ISPs from the duty to pro-active supervision.
860 www.ecp-epn.nl/werkgroep-notice-and-takedown (viewed 24 May 2011).
861 ‘Beperkte omvang internetfilter bewijs symboolpolitiek’ [Limited scope of Internet filter proves symbolic policy],
Bits of Freedom, 28 June 2010, www.bof.nl/2010/06/28/beperkte-omvang-internetfilter-bewijs-symboolpolitiek/(
viewed 1 June 2011); see also Stol et al., 2008, pp.85-87 and Bonnici, 2008, pp.72-73.
862 Sommer & Brown, 2011, p.30; Taylor & Quayle, 2003, p.203.
863 Written information from Information Society and Media project officer, Directorate-General, eContent
& Safer Internet from the European Commission to the Hotline Combating <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> on
the Internet,, 11 April 2011.
864 Cornelissens & Ferweda, 2010, pp.25-26, 33.
865 Lanning, 2010, p.125.
866 Cornelissens & Ferweda, 2010, p.26.
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