I saw this on Facebook :

Fight Child Pornography
421,533 Members
$136 donated

If you do the math, that is an extremely weak donation. Less than a penny per person. And no mention of where the money goes.  I mean, it’s great that people are against child pornography – I’m just saying that as an exercise, this is somewhat useless, and might even take some goodwill away from a real cause.

Last year I met Justice Canada, along with Google, Yahoo, Cogeco and other companies, to discuss how we all dealt with juvenile pornography as electronic service providers, to provide input on shaping new legislation and to empower law enforcement to be able to better fight juvenile pornography. The biggest thing they could use? More awareness, and better information on what to do if you ever come across child pornography.

Here is some useful info:

  • To report any Juvenile Pornography (JP), including a link to anything suspicious : Cybertip . They work with several authorities.
  • In Canada, it is not (yet) a legal obligation to report any suspected juvenile pornography, it is an ethical choice. In the US, it IS a legal obligation to report anything. Not reporting JP is a crime.
  • If you find something online, regardless of how it was discovered, the best thing to do is to report it. Please. It could save a child. Regardless of how it was discovered.
  • A picture of your baby on the toilet or in the bath is not juvenile pornography. The police will not arrest you for it. That debate is ridiculous, an urban legend at best. Hey, they’re people too. ;-)

There. Now, feel free to share that info with those 400 000 or so people – this way the group actually CAN serve a purpose.