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EU remained ‘global hub’ for hosting online child sexual abuse content last year, with the majority in the Netherlands, according to watchdog
ISTANBUL
Web servers in the Netherlands are hosting the most, some one-third, of all child sexual abuse material online, according to a recent report by a watchdog that tracks and removes such content.
Last year, the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) took action to remove over 255,000 reports of confirmed child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, which refers to visuals depicting the exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
Organizations such as the IWF and others prefer the term CSAM instead of child pornography, as the latter could denote some degree of consent on children’s part.
IWF data shows the EU remains the “global hub” for CSAM, with a staggering 150,419, or 59%, of the reports being about material hosted on computer servers in the EU member states, the highest worldwide.
Among them, the Netherlands was at the top, hosting 32%, or 82,605 URLs.
But why is the EU, and the Netherlands in particular, hosting the highest amount of such material in the world?
Experts explain it is in part because the small European country has web hosting companies and server providers offering services at a low cost.
High-speed internet, developed digital infrastructure, and favorable regulations are additional factors.
“The Netherlands has plenty of fast, cheap hosting infrastructure … so naturally you are going to find content wherever you have good…
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