French police detain 37 people in online child pornography investigation

An investigation in eastern France has led to the arrests of 37 people on suspicion of downloading and distributing child pornography.

More than one million photos and videos of child pornography were discovered by police as part of the case, according to a statement issued by the gendarmerie in the French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Since November, 270 gendarmes — who operate under the authority of the French armed forces, mainly in rural areas and small towns — have been working on the investigation. Among them, 36 of the investigators specialised in tracking cybercrime.

Authorities seized a total of 60 computers, 290 hard drives, 27 mobile phones, eight tablets and four cameras. Weapons and drugs were also found at four locations.

A similar operation took place in the same region in March 2023, with 17 people detained for allegedly downloading and distributing child pornography.

France tightened its pornography laws last May.

The new law stipulates that online platforms have 24 hours to remove child pornography after a police report. If they breach the requirement, platform-owners face up to one year in prison and a €250,000 fine, which rises if the offence is repeated.

Under the legislation, websites and video-sharing platforms must also introduce an age verification system to ensure that pornographic content cannot be accessed by minors.

Since 2022, there has been political deadlock in Europe over the Child Sexual Abuse Material regulation, which would allow digital platforms to scan users' encrypted exchanges.

While those in favour of the law argue it would lead to the detection of child sexual abuse material, a minority of EU countries see it as a dangerous affront to online privacy.

This comes as the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based charity, warned of rapid rise in images and videos of sexual assaults on children generated by artificial intelligence (AI).