Substantial increases in racist and pornographic websites were reported on Wednesday by an international watchdog in its first detailed analysis of illegal activity on the Internet.
INHOPE, the International Association of Internet Hotlines, said monthly trends of processed reports over a 28-month period to December 2006 showed racism and xenophobia grew by 33 percent, adult pornography by 24 percent and child pornography by 15 percent.
It said a "staggering 9,600" confirmed reports of child pornography were processed per month.
INHOPE says the report is the first step towards "a global action plan to eradicate illegal activity from the Internet. "It is a landmark publication for policy makers, governments and industry."
Nikos Frydas, co-author of the report, said INHOPE hotlines collect reports about illegal and harmful content in over 25 countries around the world including members from Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.
"INHOPE is now in the unique position to accurately describe the illegal and harmful sectors of the Internet." The report says that in the 28 months the INHOPE network received 900,000 reports from the general public.
There were 160,000 reports forwarded to law enforcement agencies for action, an average of 5,800 per month.
The report said 20,000 reports processed a month, or 21 percent, were about illegal or harmful content. Half of these contained child pornography, 19 percent contained other child-related content and 28 percent contained adult pornography.
The INHOPE Association of Internet Hotlines, co-ordinated from Ireland, was founded in 1999. It receives funding from the EU Safer Internet Plus Programme.
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