Illegal Images and Reporting

The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 makes it illegal for anyone to knowingly produce, forward, publish, send, show or possess any child pornography in Ireland. A child is defined in the Act as any person under the age of 17 years. Child pornography is defined very broadly and includes, amongst other things, visual and audio representations, of a sexual nature, of persons under 17 years of age and may include representations such as cartoon images.

If you have any reason to believe that a particular image you have received might be illegal, such as child pornography, you should report it immediately to the Gardai;. You should advise the Gardai ­ of the full details of any relevant information available to you such as the sender’s telephone number, etc.

Illegal images of this nature, particularly those encountered while web-browsing, should be reported to www.hotline.ie. This service is provided, in a secure and confidential environment, by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) for reporting any instances of child pornography on the Internet.