Todays Sun

Thank you for submitting your report to the www.hotline.ie service. Your report has been investigated.

The www.hotline.ie service handles cases of Child Pornography on the Internet which is specifically illegal under the 1998 Child Pornography and Trafficking Act. If the material you reported turns out to be confirmed child pornography action will be taken.

Your report about material published in a news paper is outside the remit of the Hotline. As there is no "Press Council" in Ireland you may make a complaint directly to the Editor of the Sun or, if you believe what they have published is obscene, you may report it to the Gardaí. Alternatively, complaints may be made to the Censorship of Publications Office, 13 Lr Hatch St., Dublin 2. I understand their procedures require the complaint in writing along with three different, recent copies of the periodical (newspaper) to back your complaint.


In relation to the online version, despite the Sun's banner headlines claiming these images are "Child Pornography", it is the opinion of the Hotline that they do not constitute illegal images under Irish legislation.
- Especially in the form published with blackout areas and within the context of the article.

This is backed up by the very fact that they were published in the paper, you can be sure their legal people were extremely careful to ensure that none of these images constitute an illegal image in any of the jurisdictions where the Sun is sold.

Irrespective of whether an image is offensive in one's personal opinion, The Hotline can only act according to the strict definition of the law as it stands today. For your information, below is an extract of the relevant part from the Irish legislation.

[No. 22.] Child Trafficking and Pornography [1998.] Act, 1998.

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‘‘child’’ means a person under the age of 17 years;
‘‘child pornography’’ means—
(a) any visual representation—
(i) that shows or, in the case of a document, relates to a
person who is or is depicted as being a child and
who is engaged in or is depicted as being engaged in
explicit sexual activity,
(ii) that shows or, in the case of a document, relates to a
person who is or is depicted as being a child and who
is or is depicted as witnessing any such activity by
any person or persons, or
(iii) whose dominant characteristic is the depiction, for a
sexual purpose, of the genital or anal region of a child,
(b) any audio representation of a person who is or is represented
as being a child and who is engaged in or is
represented as being engaged in explicit sexual activity,
(c) any visual or audio representation that advocates, encourages
or counsels any sexual activity with children which
is an offence under any enactment, or
(d) any visual representation or description of, or information
relating to, a child that indicates or implies that the child
is available to be used for the purpose of sexual exploitation
within the meaning of section 3,

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The Internet content to which you refer in your report is hosted on servers which are outside of Irish jurisdiction.

The Hotline receives many reports of sites containing the type of images shown as being available on "Child Pornography" sites. The sites reported have been hosted outside of Irish jurisdiction. However, where images contravene Irish law, The Hotline gathers relevant technical information about the location and hosting service and report these details to the Gardaí, so they may be referred through Interpol to be acted on by the relevant law enforcement agencies.


Best regards

Paul