Police powerless to close paedophile forums
Published: 9 Apr 10 13:25 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/25986/20100409/
Despite a new law designed to tackle grooming of young people by suspected paedophiles on internet websites, police are unable to act against those hosting chat forums, contact sites and advice pages.
- Online sex 'grooming' law lacks teeth (24 Jan 10)
- Bank gives porn site link to Swedish school kids (18 Dec 09)
- New bias suspicions in Pirate Bay legal battle (21 Sep 09)
In the six months after the law was adopted the police received only 100 reports, despite the fact that more than half of Swedish girls aged 15 to17 claimed to have been subject to grooming attempts by adults over the internet before reaching the age of 15, according to a National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebygganderådet - Brå) report from 2007.
The law does not allow for the closure of websites or the prosecution of those behind them. Jonas Persson explained why:
"I don't think a tightening of the legislation is desirable - it would come dangerously close to encroaching on freedom of expression legislation," he said.
Legal obligations for those behind websites visited by suspected paedophiles and would-be "groomers" extend only to the removal of pictures and films which feature minors, or the publication of personal information.
The Local has received information that a man resident in Stockholm is alleged to be behind a chat forum serving as a contact point for paedophiles and hosted by PRQ - a Swedish web-hosting firm run by Pirate Bay co-founders Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Fredrik Neij, and also noted for hosting the Wikileaks whistle-blower website.
Anti-paedophilia activists claim to have made attempts to persuade PRQ to close the man's website but to no avail.
A statement on PRQ's website cites freedom of expression as the over-riding ethos of their business model.
“We are big fans of free speech and free trade and let our customers practice those in full, within the limits of the law, irrespective of how odd, unpopular, sensational or controversial the activity may be."
"Our contracts have no clauses which forbid offensive, insulting, or pornographic material," the company declares.
The Local has made attempts to contact PRQ on Friday but calls have not been returned.
Peter Vinthagen Simpson
news@thelocal.se
+46 8 656 6513
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Parent patrols help quell Stockholm riots
Parents and volunteers have been patrolling the streets of Stockholm's immigrant-heavy suburbs to help quell riots that have raged for almost a week, serving as a successful deterrent to troublemakers and winning praise from police. READ () »
Police hunt man after woman found dead
Police are hunting a 40-year-old man after a woman was found dead in a suburb of Stockholm on Saturday. READ () »
Two cars collide as elk gives birth on road
Two cars collided on a road between Trollhättan and Vänersborg in western Sweden on Friday afternoon due to an elk having chosen the unusual spot to give birth to a calf. READ () »
Dad slams booze delivery to 10-year-old son
Express delivery firm DHL has been criticised for having handed over a load of alcohol ordered from Germany to a 10-year-old boy in southern Sweden who was home alone at the time. READ () »
Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night
A sixth straight night of unrest blighted several Stockholm suburbs on Friday night, spreading briefly to the city of Örebro, 160 kilometres to the west. READ () »
Stockholm's not burning
With international media swooping on the Stockholm riots from every angle, The Local's Oliver Gee explains why Stockholm is not burning, and how the story has been blown out of proportion. READ () »
Stockholm riots: causes and consequences
After five nights of rioting throughout the outskirts of Stockholm, many in Sweden and elsewhere are trying to make sense of it all. The Local spoke to a mix of commentators and local politicians to get their views. READ () »
Swedish firms 'clueless' about foreign graduates
As white-collar union Saco slammed Sweden for not helping well-educated foreigners into the labour market, The Local spoke to researcher Josefin Edström about the disconnect between foreign professionals and Swedish employers. READ () »
- 25/05 Police hunt man after woman found dead »
- 25/05 Parent patrols help quell Stockholm riots »
- 25/05 Two cars collide as elk gives birth on road »
- 25/05 Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night »
- 24/05 Swedish riot police to call in reinforcements »
- 24/05 Stockholm's not burning »
- 24/05 Stockholm riots: causes and consequences »
- 24/05 US and UK issue travel warnings for Sweden »
- 24/05 Man held for murder after new body parts find »
- 24/05 Schools burn on fifth night of Stockholm riots »
- 25/05 Bayern defeat Dortmund in Wembley thriller »
- 25/05 Merkel: business must fight immigrant prejudice »
More news from Germany at thelocal.de
More news from France at thelocal.fr
More news from Norway at thelocal.no
More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch
In cooperation with DoToday
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
" I have recently become addicted to a website called Stockholms Källan. The site is an amazing treasure trove of historical images of Stockholm. You can search by names or locations to find old photos and documents relating to whatever you’re interested in. This image is from a 1960’s short film called “Ditt Stockholm” (“Your Stockholm”). It..." READ »
- 23/5 09:23 REFLECTIONS OF A TWITTER VIRGIN…. (The Diplomatic Dispatch)
- 21/5 21:34 WEEK 21 (Stripes News)
- 20/5 15:25 Hockey. Hockey. Hockey. (Boston Blatte)
- 04:11 Husby Riots and violence against the police...
- 02:34 Driving to Sweden from the UK
- 02:32 Tuition fees across Europe for non-EU students
- 00:27 Relocation to Stockholm
- 23:55 Something you dont know about SWEDEN
- 19:12 Phone landline installation
- 18:27 Salary for a cashier working at ICA, COOP?
- 17:34 Canada vs. Sweden
- 13:22 Sweden, English News and Alternative Media...
- 23:14 Cleaning business in Sweden
Create an account with Banc De Binary, the world’s most reputable binary options firm, and start cashing in today! You can start by practicing with our free $50,000 demo account.
www.bbinary.com
Expat counsellor & talk therapist offers counselling for stress, relationship issues, sexuality, culture adjustment & life coaching. Private & confidential. Stockholm or Skype. Contact me today! 08-559 22 636 or
CLICK HERE
Casa Birgitta in Algarve, Portugal. Reduced price in best location. Private estate on white sand beach. All amenities included. Book here today! edward_george1@hotmail.com
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
Individuals & Couples - Stockholm Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
Gotto love a political system where the corporations have a bigger say in things.
Heres another website that i called and reported to the police myself, and perhaps if enough of us do the same they will actually move to do something about it: anontalkDOTcom
Go there for a second and see the topics, absolutely disgusting, but DO NOT post there, because if the cops do decide to do something about it, you dont want your post there now do ya?
There is no excuse for this.
If the police can target downloaders, then they should be arrested for not jailing paedophiles.
What is wrong with Jonas ? does he have kids ? Does he care about protecting kids from sexual abuse. Unless there is a big change in attitude by police in Sweden then it is not safe to keep your children in Sweden .. Isn't that what Sweden is about safety and womens ans childens rights when did it change to freedom of expression at all costs.
Poking some poor kid with a penis and ruining his/her entire life should be weighed in with freedom of expression properly, because the way i see it the scales wont even be close.
in fact I would even support a law that say the police can search anyones computer *at will* looking for child porn, but anything else they might find is inadmissible (to take away the excuse of simply searching computers and finding something to pin on the individual).
Child porn is a disease that not only spoils the mind of the person who is into it but ruins others lives before they have even started.. and should be taken far more seriously than it is.
Either that, or convicted child porn consumers and peddlers should be released every Friday in a square bound and gagged, while the parents + extended family of the
victims are given baseball bats..... and everyone else looks away for 7 minutes.
Thats my 2 cents anyway.
And for the Police, what a lame work they have, retrograde excuses never the less!!!
Furthermore, I am an American and have never visited a third world country for a sex holiday nor have I ever met anyone who has. I have traveled to Sweden several times and the only person I had sex with was my wife...
I beg to differ.
I believe paedophilia is curable. Execution would cure it perfectly.
I am afraid, that this isn't an american culture import. Just ask average american about all those things and you will see, that most of them are far more conservative that europeans. We don't get a right picture of americans, because of pop style Tv shows, movies and etc.
I dont' think that ir would be possible to find child pornography in american libraries like you can do so in swedish libraries.
On the other side, everyone parent should browse through some popular internet chat sites and they would find, that 90% of all those 12-15 year old children (especialy girls) exposes in all possible ways. you don't need to be a member of secret pedophile site if you want to get hundreds of almost naked children photos. Just spend a few minutes in facebook. So who is guilty then?