The Internet Has Emerged as the Principal Tool for Exchanging Child Pornography

Historically, pornography, including child pornography, tended to be found  mainly in photographs, magazines, and videos. According to experts, pornographers have traditionally exploited—and  sometimes pioneered—emerging communication technologies—from the  dial-in bulletin board systems of the 1970s to the World Wide Web—to  access, trade, and distribute pornography, including child pornography. Web sites. In another study, focused on the availability of  pornographic video files on peer-to-peer sharing networks, a sample of 507  pornographic video files retrieved with a file-sharing program included  about 3.7 percent child pornography videos. Several Agencies Have Law Enforcement Responsibilities Regarding Child Pornography on Peer- to-Peer Networks

Table 2 shows the key national organizations and agencies that are  currently involved in efforts to combat child pornography on peer-to-peer  networks. Two organizations in the Department of Justice have responsibilities  regarding child pornography: the FBI and the Justice Criminal Division’s  Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Our analysis of 1,286 titles and file names identified  through KaZaA searches on 12 keywords showed that 543 (about 42  percent) of the images had titles and file names associated with child  pornography images. Of the remaining files, 34 percent were classified as  adult pornography, and 24 percent as nonpornographic (see fig. The ease of access to child pornography files was further documented by  retrieval and analysis of image files, performed on our behalf by the  Customs CyberSmuggling Center. In 2002,  peer-to-peer referrals increased more than fourfold, from 156 to 757,  reflecting the increased popularity of file-sharing programs. Juvenile Users of Peer- to-Peer Applications May Be Inadvertently Exposed to Pornography

Juvenile users of peer-to-peer networks face a significant risk of  inadvertent exposure to pornography when searching and downloading  images. In a search using innocuous keywords likely to be used by  juveniles searching peer-to-peer networks (such as names of popular  singers, actors, and cartoon characters), almost half the images  downloaded were classified as adult or cartoon pornography. To document the risk of inadvertent exposure of juvenile users to  pornography, the Customs CyberSmuggling Center performed KaZaA  searches using innocuous keywords likely to be used by juveniles. We determined that 61 images contained  adult pornography (34 percent), 24 images consisted of cartoon  pornography (14 percent), 13 images contained child erotica (7 percent),  and 2 images (1 percent) contained child pornography. Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Are Beginning to Focus Resources on Child Pornography on Peer- to-Peer Networks

Because law enforcement agencies do not track the resources dedicated to  specific technologies used to access and download child pornography on  the Internet, we were unable to quantify the resources devoted to  investigations concerning peer-to-peer networks. These agencies  (including the FBI, CEOS, and Customs) do devote significant resources to  combating child exploitation and child pornography in general. Law  enforcement officials told us, however, that as tips concerning child  pornography on the peer-to-peer networks increase, they are beginning to  focus more law enforcement resources on this issue. The increase in reports of child pornography on peer-to-peer  networks suggests that this problem is increasing.
Why GAO Did This Study

The availability of child pornography has dramatically increased in recent years as it has migrated from printed material to the World Wide Web, becoming accessible through Web sites, chatrooms, newsgroups, and now the increasingly popular peer-to-peer file sharing programs. These programs enable direct communication between users, allowing users to access each other's files and share digital music, images, and video. GAO was requested to determine the ease of access to child pornography on peer-to-peer networks; the risk of inadvertent exposure of juvenile users of peer-to-peer networks to pornography, including child pornography; and the extent of federal law enforcement resources available for combating child pornography on peer-to-peer networks. Today's testimony is based on GAO's report on the results of that work (GAO- 03-351), Because child pornography cannot be accessed legally other than by law enforcement agencies, GAO worked with the Customs Cyber-Smuggling Center in performing searches: Customs downloaded and analyzed image files, and GAO performed analyses based on keywords and file names only.

What GAO Found

Child pornography is easily found and downloaded from peer-to-peer networks. In one search, using 12 keywords known to be associated with child pornography on the Internet, GAO identified 1,286 titles and file names, determining that 543 (about 42 percent) were associated with child pornography images. Of the remaining, 34 percent were classified as adult pornography and 24 percent as non-pornographic. In another search using three keywords, a Customs analyst downloaded 341 images, of which 149 (about 44 percent) contained child pornography. These results are in accord with increased reports of child pornography on peer-to-peer networks; since it began tracking these in 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has seen a fourfold increase--from 156 in 2001 to 757 in 2002. Although the numbers are as yet small by comparison to those for other sources (26,759 reports of child pornography on Web sites in 2002), the increase is significant. Juvenile users of peer-to-peer networks are at significant risk of inadvertent exposure to pornography, including child pornography. Searches on innocuous keywords likely to be used by juveniles (such as names of cartoon characters or celebrities) produced a high proportion of pornographic images: in our searches, the retrieved images included adult pornography (34 percent), cartoon pornography (14 percent), child erotica (7 percent), and child pornography (1 percent). While federal law enforcement agencies--including the FBI, Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and Customs--are devoting resources to combating child exploitation and child pornography in general, these agencies do not track the resources dedicated to specific technologies used to access and download child pornography on the Internet. Therefore, GAO was unable to quantify the resources devoted to investigating cases on peer-to-peer networks. According to law enforcement officials, however, as tips concerning child pornography on peer-to-peer networks escalate, law enforcement resources are increasingly being focused on this area.