Speaking about a law from the Queen’s Speech that will make it illegal for paedophiles to produce documents about online grooming, Diana Johnson MP, Shadow Home Office Minister for Crime and Security, said: “The Government isn’t going far enough or fast enough to prevent online child abuse.
“It is absolutely right that these ‘manuals’ are to be banned, but the fact that online guides for abusing children are currently legal shows how ill-suited current legislation is for protecting children online. At present online abuse is increasing while the number of arrests is falling. Over the past 3 years we’ve seen a 60% decline in the number of arrests made by CEOP (the specialist police unit looking at online abuse) while referrals rose 14% last year.
“Ministers are slowly reacting to new practice adopted by online abusers when they should be taking a proactive approach which recognises the unique nature of online abuse and the scale of the problem. There is much more that could be done including updating current legislation and ensuring online abuse is a priority for the National Crime Agency.
“The Government also need to look at the broader issues of how we regulate dangerous online content and prevent children accessing adult content. The Prime Minister promised to make online restrictions equivalent to off-line restrictions but he has not come close to implementing this.”
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Notes for editors
Between 2010/11 and 2012/13 the number of arrests made following CEOP activity fell from 513 to 192. At the same time the number of referrals is rising up 14% from 11/12 to 12/13 (16550 to 18887).
2012/13: CEOP received 18,887 reports relating to child sexual exploitation. CEOP connected to the arrest of 192 suspects in the last year.
2011/12: 16,550 reports received, 192 arrests made.
2010/11: CEOP activity connected to 513 arrests.
2009/10: CEOP activity connected to 417 arrests.
In a speech to the NSPCC last year the Prime Minister promised that content that was banned in hard copy would also be banned online. He also promised to introduce age-appropriate filters as standard.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-internet-and-pornography-prime-minister-calls-for-action