Legal Research

With the support of K&L Gates, NCMEC commissioned research to better understand existing legal frameworks related to online child sexual exploitation in various jurisdictions. Law firms from around the world responded to a questionnaire about specific aspects of each jurisdiction's laws. These responses are available below in full and summarized formats.

Responses to the legal questionnaires may be limited to officially enacted legislation. It is possible that actual practice or enforcement of the law varies, and relevant court rulings or case law may also differ from legislative text. Responses have been reformatted and slightly edited for clarity. Responses also may include commentary, paraphrasing, and unofficial translations of source material (e.g., national legislation) originally produced in other languages. Only official source documents in official languages should be relied upon as legally binding. These documents are intended to inform further research and do not constitute legal advice from NCMEC or the listed law firm.

Summaries are available in multiple languages, while the original full responses may be downloaded as a PDF in English.

About the Questionnaire
The legal questionnaire addressed these elements of local laws:

Legal definitions of relevant terms, such as child or minor, child sexual exploitation, sexually explicit conduct, child pornography or child sexual abuse material (CSAM), enticement or grooming, the legal age of consent for sexual activity, and others;

Legal or regulatory requirements or recommendations for online platforms regarding measures to detect CSAM or enticement/grooming/sextortion of a child; removal of such content, whether reported to or discovered by the platform; content moderation by humans; specific technology for detection/prevention/removal, etc.;

Legal or regulatory requirements or recommendations for online platforms regarding age verification or parental consent;

Legal remedies for victims of online child sexual exploitation; and

Legal or regulatory requirements or recommendations for online platforms to adopt “Safety by Design”