Philippine police say they seek more legal help in uphill battle against child porn

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MANILA, Philippines—Cracking down on online child pornography is a growing challenge for Philippine police because those involved increasingly use unregistered pre-paid mobile phones lines and Internet devices that are hard to trace, a senior officer said Friday.

The comment came a day after British authorities announced that an international investigation had broken up a ring that streamed live webcam footage of child sexual abuse from the Philippines for paying viewers around the world.

Gilbert Sosa, director of the Philippine national police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group, said Friday that telecommunications companies were also refusing to turn over telephone and Internet log files of suspects following the suspension of a cybercrime law over privacy concerns.

He said the obstacles were preventing police from gathering evidence from tens of thousands of sites transmitting child sexual abuse.

Unregistered SIM cards can be purchased even in neighbourhood stores throughout the country with no identification required.

“We will be asking Congress for registration of SIM cards and wireless devices, pre-paid broadband … and the lifting of the (temporary restraining order) on the anti-cybercrime law,” Sosa told reporters.

He said the Philippines is one of the top 10 sources of child pornography in the world, and that police have been co-operating with other countries to crack down on it.

On Thursday, Britain’s National Crime Agency said child abuse investigators in Britain, the U.S. and Australia had dismantled an organized crime group that streamed footage of child sexual abuse.

The ring abused impoverished children as young as 6, the agency said. Authorities made 29 arrests, including 11 people in the Philippines who had facilitated the crime. Some were members of the children’s families.

The investigation, code-named Operation Endeavour, spanned 12 countries, including France, Germany, Switzerland and Canada. Five people have been convicted in the U.K.

Sosa said Operation Endeavour was ongoing. “It is not stopping, because the problem is continuing,” he said.

He said the victims’ families often cite poverty as the reason for getting the children involved.

“We have cases where the parents themselves facilitate the involvement of their children,” Sosa said.

The Supreme Court suspended the anti-cybercrime law shortly after it was passed in 2012 while it decides whether certain provisions violate civil liberties.

The law aims to combat Internet crimes such as hacking, identity theft, spamming, cybersex and online child pornography.

“The fight against child pornography is a shared responsibility between law enforcement, members of the press, teachers, parents, non-government organizations … and we hope the telecommunications companies also help us,” Sosa said. “We need their social commitment.”