The President of CESP, Mr. Ricardo Valadas has sent letters to the European Commission and the European Parliament regarding the proposed Interim Regulation relating to the ePrivacy Directive to Enable the World to Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation.

As CESP we join the Global Fight to Protect Children of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and fully support their demand. As we know, on December 7, the European Parliament will vote on legislation that could have a devastating and global impact on our ability to protect children from sexual exploitation. A law in the European Union called the e-Privacy Directive will stop the use of technology that helps identify child sexual exploitation online beginning December 21, but an “interim regulation” is being considered now that could prevent this catastrophe. If it passes, the interim regulation will allow tech companies to continue using these critical tools until 2025 when a more permanent solution can be reached. This must happen.

Without a solution in place to safeguard children, the ePrivacy Directive will effectively close the curtain to the abuse of children that happens online. The actions taken now with regard to the Interim Regulation will determine whether children can be rescued from sexual predators or whether the European Union will break from the rest of the world and facilitate the sexual victimization of children by providing a safe haven online for abusers.

We urge for an approval of the Interim Regulation and enable the world to continue using hashing measures and grooming indicators to detect and rescue children from online sexual exploitation. Only by working together can we keep the world’s children safe from sexual offenders.

As CESP we cannot allow children to be condemned to sexual exploitation online when we have the ability and the tools available to curtail this abuse.