Counter-Surveillance Strategies Adopted By Child Pornographers

On the one side, it could be argued that ICT provide a perceived anonymity for people downloading and distributing child abusive material, also labelled child pornography. While, on the other side the technology offers powerful surveillance mechanisms to monitor these activities and thus constitutes a powerful tool for law enforcement. This article aims to explore how offenders manage the risk of surveillance when downloading, distributing and exchanging child abusive material. Critical research with a focus on panopticon is used as a theoretical framework. The data is drawn from interviews with offenders, convicted of child pornography. The findings show that the offenders have developed technological and social strategies to reduce the risk of surveillance and addresses the need of a new theoretical concept better adjusted to surveillance practices that allow the many to watch the many. The ultimate motivation for researching this topic is to contribute to the development of effective child protection strategies. DOI: 10.4018/jthi.2009062501 IGI PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, Volume 5, Issue 4 edited by Bernd Carsten Stahl © 2009, IGI Global 701 E. Chocolate Ave ue, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.igi-global.com ITJ 5349