INHOPE 10th Anniversary Celebration
09 Nov 2009
INHOPE 10th Anniversary Celebration and General Assembly, Brussels, 4th November 2009.
The INHOPE Network celebrates 10 years in the fight against online illegal content, primarily child sex abuse images.
The INHOPE network of Internet Hotlines today convened a special session to celebrate its 10th Anniversary in the fight against illegal content on the Internet. INHOPE Hotlines provide the general public with a means to report anonymously suspected illegal content online – primarily child sexual abuse images.
Ruben Rodriguez, President of INHOPE and Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children opened the meeting saying, “the INHOPE Association has taken great strides forward in the last few years; we have grown to 36 Hotlines from 31 different countries both in Europe and around the world. We have dramatically increased our outreach to industry and to law enforcement enabling us to develop collaborative projects and initiatives which in turn have increased our ability to remove child sex abuse images from the Internet”
INHOPE is utilising its unique position representing national Hotlines around the world having developed the first global URL database to record the relevant data of websites that contain images of child sexual abuse. Data collated from the network will enable INHOPE to provide the most comprehensive figures and information on the proliferation and circulation of such illegal content.
The information provided by INHOPE and its Members will enable industry, policy makers and law enforcement to target resources in an effort to combat the distribution of this material. By collating the information supplied to our Members by the public and other sources, INHOPE is able to help its stakeholders confront future challenges. The URL database is an invaluable tool for society to report its concerns and by doing so fostering confidence amongst Internet users.
To encourage new Hotline initiatives worldwide, INHOPE, in cooperation with the EC has been working to prioritise countries where illegal material can potentially be hosted or produced and countries which are deemed to be important in the fight against illegal material online.
Illegal activity on the Internet is a cross border problem that no one organisation can effectively tackle alone and INHOPE Hotlines have proven to be an effective first line of defence against illegal content online and in the fight against online predators.
(*) In some countries Hotlines are called tiplines
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About INHOPE
INHOPE, the International Association of Internet Hotlines, was founded in 1999 under the European Commission's Safer Internet Action Plan to represent and coordinate a global network of Hotlines.
The mission of INHOPE is to support and enhance the performance of Internet Hotlines around the World, ensuring swift action is taken in responding to reports of illegal action, making the internet a safer place. A Hotline is where the general public can report illegal internet content such as child sexual abuse images. The Hotline confidentially reviews each report, referring illegal material onto the relevant law enforcement agencies or Internet Service Providers for further action.
Today, there are thirty six members of INHOPE worldwide in thirty one countries, including members from Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia. Through meeting regularly to share knowledge and best practice, INHOPE and its members are working to tackle the global problem of illegal content online.
www.inhope.org
About Safer Internet plus programme:
The Safer Internet plus programme aims to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children, and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user, as part of a coherent approach by the European Union.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm
INHOPE Press Contact:
Kerry Gordon, INHOPE Marketing & Communications Coordinator
25 Sandyford Office Park, Dublin 18, Ireland
e: kerry.gordon@inhope.org
w: www.inhope.org
m: +353 87 99 614 99
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