Virtual Global Taskforce

Making the internet a safer place | Italiano

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A new approach to fighting online child abuse

26 January 2005

A new web-based initiative - www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com - will be launched today (Wednesday 26 January) to deter and prevent individuals from committing child abuse on-line. The new website has been pioneered by the UK's National Crime Squad in association with UK industry leaders and law enforcement counterparts in Australia, Canada, the US, and Interpol. The Virtual Global Taskforce partnership aims to make the Internet a safer place for children and a more hostile place for paedophiles.

Recent research conducted by ICM revealed that 89% of British adults agreed that there should be a great deal or fair amount of co-operation between the UK police and international law enforcement agencies to help improve child safety on-line [1]. The Virtual Global Taskforce provides the ideal platform for delivering improved international co-operation.

The website will act as a gateway to information on how to use the Internet safely, and will link to a range of support agencies that can advise and support victims of abuse. It will also facilitate the ability of Internet users to report on-line child abuse in a secure and confidential environment. The aim is for the website to become a "one stop shop" for all information about child protection on-line.

"The Virtual Global Taskforce is an excellent initiative which brings together law enforcement agencies and industry from around the world" said Home Office Minister, Paul Goggins, today. "It is only through building partnerships like these that we can be effective in protecting children and making the Internet safe for children.

"Through the Home Secretary's Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet we have worked with industry, child welfare groups and law enforcement, and we are now providing safer Internet services and advice to children and their parents. Child protection on the Internet is an issue where the UK has consistently led the world in our commitment to tackling the problem, in our readiness to work in partnership with all those who have a role to play, and in our ability to think innovatively about solutions.

"The Virtual Global Taskforce website builds on this work and pulls together safety advice from different countries and, through industry partners, makes this advice easily available to children and parents around the world. The Virtual Global Taskforce and its website are an excellent example of innovative leadership."

Jim Gamble, Deputy Director General of the UK's National Crime Squad, and Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, explained the importance of global working:

"The Virtual Global Taskforce is a unique partnership in the history of law enforcement. Child abuse is one of the worst crimes to affect today's society and we in the UK must break away from thinking that we can tackle this issue within our own borders. Internet-users access a worldwide service and we must tackle abuse from a worldwide perspective. That is why strategic partnerships with partners across the globe are so vital to the success of this initiative. Police across the world must work as one on this.

And law enforcement can't work alone. A critical factor in the success of the Virtual Global Taskforce is its innovative partnership with industry to help make the Internet safer by design. The founding VGT Industry Partners in the UK - Microsoft/MSN, AOL(UK), Vodafone and BT - are working with the VGT to develop this collaboration. Partners will develop mutual understanding within the international on-line child protection community and cooperate on the introduction of best practice for protection of children within the industry.

Our message is simple. Those who use the Internet to search for and share images of child abuse, or to approach children in chat rooms to "groom" them for sexual abuse, must be aware that the Internet is not an anonymous place. The Internet needs to be safe and through this website and other initiatives we are doing all we can to achieve this."

Notes to Editors

  1. The Virtual Global Taskforce was created in 2003 as a direct response to lessons learned from investigations into on-line child abuse around the world. It is an international alliance of law enforcement agencies comprising the UK's National Crime Squad, Australia's High Tech Crime Centre, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the US Department of Homeland Security and Interpol.
  2. The mission of the Virtual Global Taskforce is:
    • to make the Internet a safer place;
    • to identify, locate and help children at risk; and
    • to hold perpetrators appropriately to account.
  3. www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com provides on-line guidance as well as access to a number of partner organisations including Internet Watch Foundation, Childline, MissDorothy.Com and the NSPCC. Key industry leaders - including Microsoft/MSN, AOL(UK), Vodafone, and BT are promoting the site on their launch pages as well as working with international law enforcement on this and other crime reduction initiatives.
  4. The National Crime Squad has the tactical lead in the UK on combating child abuse. As the single point of contact in the UK, the NCS has a remit to support, co-ordinate and assist national and international investigations of Internet-related child abuse.
  5. For further information please contact Jackie Bennett, National Crime Squad Corporate Communications on 0870 2688100

References

[1] ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,009 adults aged 18+ by telephone between 12-13 January 2005. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk.