Citation

van der Bruggen M, van Balen I, van Bunningen A, Talens P, Owens JN, Clapp K. Aggress. Violent Behav. 2022; 67: e101793.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.avb.2022.101793

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Knowledge about online child sexual exploitation (CSE) offenders mostly remains limited to offender populations known by the criminal justice system. Because of its hidden and anonymous nature, knowledge on those offenders active on the Darkweb is especially scarce. For the current study, researchers had access to a unique dataset of member communication on a Darkweb CSE website, as well as members' virtual movements (or clicks) across the side, regardless of being verbally active or not. This offered a unique opportunity to establish behavioral patterns of members who were unaware that they were being observed. This paper summarizes the results of a descriptive analysis of the growth of member count, the frequency with which members were online, and detailed member behavior such as their activity on certain sub-forums and their downloading activity. Main findings include that although only 3.4 % of the members were communicatively active, the vast majority of 93.6 % of members downloaded CSE material.

RESULTS indicate that regardless of being verbally active, most members do engage with the site's content, and thus, effectively impact the CSE community. This has important implications for law enforcement practice, which will be discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Child sexual exploitation; Darkweb; Online community