Bratislava, Slovakia, May 24, 2022 -- Today there is no hotline in place to remove online child sexual abuse material in Slovakia and the European Commission is asking why not. According to Article 25 of the European Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children (Directive 2011/92/EU) adopted by the European Parliament in 2011, every European country should have a reporting mechanism in place today. Slovakia does not.

The European Directive on combatting child sexual abuse and exploitation was developed to ensure that action was being taken to prevent bad actors by requiring provisions that proactively protect potential victims and strengthen the persecution of offenders. The directive outlines minimum rules regarding criminal offence definitions related to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and solicitation of children for sexual purposes. Within this direct is article 25 which relates to a public reporting mechanism. We must first avoid the assumption that a reporting mechanism is merely an online platform and to do so we have to understand the purpose of this reporting mechanism. At its core, a reporting mechanism is to ensure a speedy removal of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but to do this effectively you require a multitude of stakeholders. By creating a hotline, a country is establishing a local presence who are able to take ownership of the challenge of preventing and removing CSAM online. A hotline can be run by a variety of organisations (for example a civil society organisation, a trade body, an ISP Association, a regulatory authority, or other appropriate entity can become a hotline) as long as they meet the required criteria. The public has a right to report.

On the 25th and 26th of May, a roundtable is being hosted by Milan Krajniak, the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in order to discuss awareness-raising and explore the need for the country to set up a hotline. By understanding that Slovakia is a hosting country, with 2832 confirmed online child sexual abuse items found to have been uploaded in Slovakia in 2021 alone, the country needs to act to implement a hotline and become a part of the global network to fight this horrible crime. This high-level roundtable represents a call to action and will follow a press conference that morning with Milan Krajniak (Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family), other key partners and Denton Howard (Executive Director, INHOPE).

We look forward to this initial step by the Slovakian government and offer our continued support. We know a hotline is critical to centralising the efforts to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation and tackling CSAM requires many stakeholders to be truly successful in making a difference. Member hotlines within the INHOPE network work actively on identifying CSAM online, by offering reporting services to the public and consequently working closely with Internet Service Providers to rapidly remove the content from the Internet. Equally, INHOPE Hotlines work with National Law Enforcement Agencies and with INTERPOL through ICCAM. We must remember it is not just about the report, it is about educating the public about what, how and where to report. And, once the report comes in it is about working with law enforcement, hosting providers and the network to not only remove but prevent further access to this content.

A reduction in CSAM availability is a proactive way to challenge bad actors, by removing their ability to upload and share content online we can tackle circulation and revictimisation. Member hotlines within the INHOPE network work actively on identifying CSAM online, by offering reporting services to the public and consequently working closely with Internet Service Providers to rapidly remove the content from the Internet. Equally, INHOPE Hotlines work with National Law Enforcement Agencies and with INTERPOL through ICCAM.

For any questions, please reach out to communications@inhope.org