The EU has taken a step towards common rules for cracking down on those who sexually abuse children and post images of the abuse on the internet.
Child pornography or child abuse material on the web must be removed at source in all EU countries in amendments to proposed new EU rules to prevent abuse, stiffen penalties, and protect victims. Where removal is impossible, e.g. because pages are hosted outside the EU, Member States may still "prevent access" to this material, in line with their national laws, so no Member State will be prevented from blocking sites.
Next steps
Negotiations between Parliament and Council representatives will continue in the coming months, with a view to reaching a compromise preferably in the first half of 2011. Once adopted, this directive will replace current EU legislation dating from 2004. Member States would then have two years to transpose the new rules into their national laws.
Further details of the progress of the proposals on the European Parliament website at - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/en/pressroom/content/20110131IPR12841/html/Delete-child-pornography-web-pages-across-the-EU-says-Civil-Liberties-Committee.