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Commercial Children sexual abuse websites have doubled from 7,028 sites(2024) to 15,031 sites(2025), Generating profits for the gangs operating them (www.iwf.org.uk)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Data.

The charity warns organised criminals are taking advantage of “systemic failures” in online security infrastructure.

Commercial websites host a wide range of child sexual abuse imagery which is available for users to buy. The imagery for sale can involve victims of all ages, and can include some of the most severe and extreme forms of sexual abuse.

Some of these sites have been deliberately disguised to appear as non-criminal sites or to look inactive in an attempt to operate on the open web while avoiding detection. Many of these sites accept payment via cryptocurrencies, card payments or money transfer services.

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[–] 6 points 6 months ago* (3 children)

OK, personally I don't think such honey traps should be legal, you can never say for sure, that a person falling for it, would use an illegal site if the honey trap didn't exist.
IMO it's immoral, and luckily in my country they are in principle illegal, although the police here is trying to push the line on that.

The honey trap could be the thing that "ignited" the interest for an individual!
It can also be the trigger for other people to make similar sites, as in if they can do it, we can do it too.
Honey traps break with the fundamentals of justice in many ways, and making them legal is a sign of a sick society IMO.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    You don't just accidentally stumble upon a honey pot/illegal website, you intentionally stumble into them by going to shady websites, and then clicking links to even shadier websites.

    Why would you click on the links to these shadier websites? Because the thumbnails approximate what you're looking for; barely legal teens, only not barely.

    Pedophelic interest doesn't "ignite". It's not like other kinks/fetishes which require exposure to discover.

    The real immorality of the issue should come from the fact that the honey pots are still using child sexual abuse material, which is almost certainly used without the adult victims consent.

    This does raise an interesting ethical dilemma; if an adult consents to law enforcement using CSAM made while they were a minor for the purposes of identifying individuals with the capacity to cause harm, or contribute financially to those causing harm - is that ethical?

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago

    You don’t just accidentally stumble upon a honey pot/illegal website

    That is probably true, I have never seen such a site myself, and if I stumbled upon it, I would leave immediately.

    The real immorality of the issue should come from the fact that the honey pots are still using child sexual abuse material, which is almost certainly used without the adult victims consent.

    I don't get how that can be legal. But USA is very extreme with their double standards in their laws.

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