Child sexual abuse material on the Internet could be reported anonymously on the platform siguronline.md. The content will be analyzed and, if illegalities are identified, the police will be notified to oblige the service providers to remove the material, IPN reports.
Minister of the Interior Adrian Efros told a news conference that a national mechanism for reporting child sexual abuse material was created and operationalized. Through this mechanism of cooperation, the Ministry of the Interior set the goal of connecting the national strategies in the field of internal affairs and the EU’s view on the fight against organized crime related to child sexual exploitation.
“With the assistance of this national mechanism, we will reduce for three times the period of time for blocking the child sexual abuse material. Also, the service allows each citizen to take an active part in the fight against child sexual exploitation, ensuring this way a safer digital ecosystem. The mechanism allows faster identifying the culprits and punishing them, either these are producers or consumers. Also, by removing the legal material from the Internet, we avoid the revictimization of children through the circulation of this material via the Internet, its viewing, distribution or possession. To be operative, Moldova this April has become a member of the global network INHOPE, which brings together 52 services for reporting such cases,” stated Adrian Efros.
U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Kent D. Logsdon said the new technologies created new risks related to child sexual abuse and exploitation all over the world. The new national mechanism created by the Government of the Republic of Moldova and La Strada, with financing provided by the United States through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, will strengthen the country’s capacity to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse on the Internet. This enables Moldova’s residents to report problematic online content so that the sexual exploitation and abuse material is eliminated.
Elena Botezatu, executive director of the international center La Strada Moldova, noted that this service was created to make the Internet cleaner, better, including for children, to ensure the more efficient protection of victims. This service works according to international standards. The average period for removing the material from the Internet is of up to two days and a half. This way, thousands of children all over the world can feel safer.
