Analysis > Reported Suspicion and Hotline Determination
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Reported Suspicion and Hotline Determination
The Hotline reporting forms contain a menu allowing selection by the user of the category that most closely fits the type of illegal content they are reporting. There is also a description field that allows them to provide other supporting information. From these, the Hotline Analyst will record the stated or implied reporter's suspicion in the database. Later in the process, when the Analyst has completed their expert assessment of the content if found, that opinion is recored in the database as the "Hotline Determination".
Suspicion described or implied in reports received.
In 4469 reports (87.6% of all submitted) the suspicion given or implied was child pornography. This high figure is expected as the Hotline was set up to handle reports of child pornography. The Hotline also accepts reports of other illegal material (e.g. financial scams and racist content) which comprised 1.5% of reports. Persons specifically reporting a complaint about adult pornography accounted for 46 reports in this period, whereas in the previous shorter reporting period they accounted for 159 reports. While the Hotline differentiates these reports from "other not-illegal content" for analysis, no action is required. It would appear that the public has become less reactive to adult pornography as such material has become more prevalent in Irish society over the two reporting periods. Other content, which includes general queries, no categorisation or insufficient detail for categorisation of the suspicion, accounted for 9.5% of all reports.
The marked increased in reports also reflects the increased uptake of Internet connectivity in the country. In the "Trends Survey Series Q4 2005. Residential Telecommunications and Broadcasting Survey" published by ComReg, it is shown that Internet penetration has now reached 63% of all 15- 24 year olds, 49% of 25-44 year olds, 27% 45-64 year olds and 4% of 65-74 year olds within the Irish population. Their "Irish Communications Market: Key Data Report - December 2005" also shows a 229% year on year increase in broadband access. Surveys have shown that broadband users tend to stay on the Internet for twice as long as dial-up users.
With greater numbers of people online, opening email accounts and using the Internet for longer, there is an increased potential for coming across suspected illegal content. It should be noted however that it is still a rare occurrence to accidentally come across such content while online. For those with children using the Internet at home online, resources such as the NCTE's www.webwise.ie provide useful guidance to parents and guardians and offer children activities to help them understand and avoid online dangers.
Hotline determination of content to which reports referred.
Analysis of reported content, as determined by the Hotline, is given in the bar chart above.
During the 30 month period, 1033 reports were determined as "probably illegal" and therefore entered the Hotline's tracing process. 908 or 17.8% of all reports were determined as "probably illegal" under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act (1998). Of the remaining "probably illegal" reports most were determined as financial scams. Only two reports were confirmed as being racist material breaking Irish law.
The 908 determined as child pornography is in great contrast to the 4469 reports where this was suspected. This is understandable, as the Hotline advises the public never to follow links or open e-mails that appear may contain child pornography. Terminology used on some adult pornography sites or advertisements can be suggestive of younger models who may be underage in this jurisdiction. Reporters are quite right to report these links or e-mails to the Hotline and not to attempt any assessment themselves. This avoids any possibility of inadvertently downloading illegal content to their computers but does mean about 75% result as not illegal. This is part and parcel of the Hotline process and the Hotline encourages all Internet users to make reports in these circumstances.
Comparison of all reports, to suspected CP, to determined CP
Of concern is the number of reports where the Hotline could not find the content to which the reporter was referring. Out of the 5102 reports in the period, 1344 were classified as Not Found, this would include situations where:
- Insufficient detail was provided by the reporter
- Incorrect details were provided in the report, such as an incorrect URL
- When an assessment was attempted the target of the report was inaccessible, i.e. a DNS error or Web server unavailable
- The content was already removed by the ISP
4.8% of all reports had insufficient detail to begin the assessment process. In many cases when an access attempt was made the location was simply not active. More positively, even though most reports received by the Hotline are processed within 24 hours, in 6.6% of cases the ISP had already removed the content prior to the Hotline's access attempt
A large proportion of reports, 1243 in the period, mostly suspected as being child pornography were determined as adult pornography which is not illegal in this jurisdiction. That is, the subjects in the images were assessed as over 17 years old, the age limit specified in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act (1998). A small number of reports referred to images of children that were assessed as not illegal.
1217 reports were determined to be "Other Content - Not Illegal". In many cases the Hotline could find no reason why anyone should have reported the material in the first place. In considerable number of cases, the reports have referred to interest group forums, dating services, etc., which some citizens users find distasteful or morally offensive. However, the Hotline does not make any judgement other than whether content is illegal or not under Irish criminal law.
102 reports were outside the remit of the Hotline. These include situations such as: people seeking technical support in using the Internet; complaints about quality of telecommunications or ISP services and, difficulties people have had with purchases transacted over the Internet. While the Hotline does try to redirect the reporter to the appropriate service when known, it is under no obligation to do so.
