Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill passes unanimously

A Bill aiming to protect children from sexual exploitation passed through Parliament with unanimous support on 2 April 2015.

The Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill increased the penalties for making, trading or possessing child exploitation material and established a new offence of 'indecent communication with a young person' which includes texting, online and verbal communication.

Among other changes, the Bill specifically:

• "Increases the maximum penalties for possession, import and export of an objectionable publication from 5 to 10 years' imprisonment.
• Increases the maximum penalties for supply, distribution or making an objectionable publication from 10 to 14 years' imprisonment.
• Creates a presumption of imprisonment for those convicted of a child exploitation material offence for a second time or later time.
• Clarifies that possession of objectionable electronic material includes intentionally viewing material without consciously downloading or saving it.
• Establishes accident compensation cover for mental injury caused by the existing sexual grooming offence, and the Bill’s new offence of indecent communication with a young person.
• Closes a gap in the law to ensure that New Zealanders who assist foreigners to commit sexual acts against children overseas, can be held liable as parties or accessories to the offence under New Zealand law."

Justice Minister Amy Adams said "The law changes reflect the ease with which criminals can now access, share and distribute child sexual abuse material, and address the changing ways perpetrators can communicate with children. The measures in this Bill reflect the serious nature of these crimes, and align with the Government’s pledge to protect children from sexual exploitation."

Both Netsafe and the Stop Demand Foundation expressed support for the Bill at the time of its introduction to Parliament. More recently, the Executive Director of Netsafe, Martin Cocker, said the bill would help fight criminals using the internet for financial gain, with no interest in child protection. Stop Demand raised further concerns about leniency at sentencing.

Internationally, Google and Microsoft have introduced new software which improved Google Search filters to block out commercial sexual exploitation of children. The study Web-based child pornography: The global impact of deterrence efforts and its consumption on mobile platforms (Steel, 2015) published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect found the blocking efforts by Google and Microsoft had resulted in a 67% drop in the past year of web-based searches for child sexual exploitation material.

The UK is also developing a national database of child sexual abuse images and trading websites, part of the larger international effort Project Vic.

Media

Tougher child exploitation law wins approval, Radio NZ, 03.04.2015

Customs increase staff to deal with rise in online child abuse images, NZ Herald, 02.03.2015

Child abuse searches online fall after internet blocking steps taken, The Independent, 15.02.2015

'It makes you despair': No getting used to investigating graphic child images, Timaru Herald, 28.01.2015

Image: Big Data by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Licence: Public Domain Dedication