National Hotline.ie - Operational Background - Sixth Annual Report

National Hotline.ie - Service that gives the public a crucial role

PURPOSE

The Hotline is a facility which enables the public to anonymously report material on the Internet which they suspect to be illegal so action may be taken to have it removed. The main focus is to fight the hosting and distribution of child pornography on the Internet. The Hotline also deals with reports of racist and xenophobic content which incite hatred or threaten violence against groups or individuals contrary to Irish law. While reports of other potentially illegal content (such as financial scams) are accepted, only those which clearly have an Irish context fall within the remit and are processed.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of the Hotline.ie is to keep child pornography off ISPAI members’ Internet facilities. However, should such material be reported, the Hotline’s role is to verify whether or not the material is probably illegal and if so, to notify the ISP and An Garda Síochána so that action is taken swiftly.

However, illegal use of the Internet, particularly for the distribution of child pornography, is an international problem. A vital secondary role of the Hotline is therefore to contribute strongly to global cooperation to stem the flow of such material on the Internet.

RELYING ON THE PUBLIC

Hotline.ie relies totally on the public to bring suspected illegal content, especially child pornography, to its attention. Under the terms of operation agreed with Government, the Hotline is prohibited from proactive searching. If suspected illegal material on the Internet is not reported by the public, it is very unlikely that law enforcement or ISPs will find out that it exists.

Basically if we don’t know about it, action isn’t going to be taken. Read more about what the public might encounter and should report by clicking on the panel on the right “Suspicious Content”.

The Hotline acts as a filter for law enforcement. It assesses whether or not material is probably illegal and where such material is located. Only when it is probably illegal will it notify An Garda Síochána. It will only provide details of the technical assessment and location of verified illegal content and does not forward the original report.

We therefore encourage members of the public to report content they suspect may be illegal, so we can work to have it removed by the ISPs and notify the appropriate law enforcement agencies so they may initiate investigations into who may be responsible for placing the illegal material on the Internet.

Hotline PROCEDURES

When a report is made the Hotline’s Content Analysts try to find the material and decide if it is probably illegal under Irish law. If it is so, they will initiate steps to have the content removed from the Internet, irrespective of where the content is located. They will log details of the assessment and tracing of the apparent source of the content. This information is then provided through designated channels to law enforcement so they can take action in the appropriate jurisdiction.

The public can have confidence in both the effectiveness of the Hotline.ie and the high standards to which it complies. This is because the Hotline.ie is overseen by the Office for Internet Safety (OIS).

The OIS, a section of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, oversees the Hotline’s procedures and monitors the effectiveness of self-regulation of the Internet service provider industry, on behalf of Government. (See hotline.ie for more information on the Hotline’s history).

Hotline's 10th Anniversary

The Hotline.ie service was established by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) in November 1999. The Government and the Gardaí recognise the Hotline as the approved industry action to combat illegal content on the Internet.

Hotline.ie will be celebrating 10 years of operation in November 2009.

Suspicious Content

Click here to find out more about what might be reported.

Very occasionally members of the public while browsing the Internet may happen directly upon material that appears to be child pornography. Thankfully, this is a rare occurrence but nevertheless Hotline.ie provides a means to quickly report this and have action initiated.

Far more commonly, Internet users encounter material they suspect may lead to illegal content in the following ways:

They find a suspicious description of a link on a web page
A link is found that has a suspicious name, e.g. http://www.anyolddomain.net/kiddysexpics/hardcore.htm
(NOTE that this URL is fictitious and used only for example here)
They receive a spam advertising what appears to be child pornography or financial scam
In the file list returned from a peer-to-peer search they see file names or file descriptions that appear to suggest that illegal content would be obtained if these were downloaded
They are looking through a forum on a given subject and suddenly find an “off-topic” posting which appears to advertise illegal material that may be obtained by following some link or set of instructions.

Quite rightly, users do not wish to follow such links (and nor should they) as to do so could bring images or videos of child pornography down on to their computer.

However, the users are often concerned about what may be present and wish to report what they have found. Hotline.ie offers the user the ability to report such material without concern that they may be wasting Garda time. Hotline.ie will investigate every report made within reason. It encourages the public to make such reports; it doesn’t matter if the material turns out not to be illegal.

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