German prosecutors say they have successfully taken action against a darknet platform through which depictions of child sexual abuse were disseminated on a large scale. As part of a larger operation from 24 to 28 September, approximately 200 officers in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein executed seven search warrants and six Suspects arrested. Aged 43 and 69, two of them in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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The investigators also seized extensive evidence such as 1,517 pieces of evidence such as laptops, PCs and cell phones as well as 94 moving boxes filled with video cassettes and DVDs. Special units, IT experts and data storage dogs were involved in the raid. Duisburg police led the investigation and operation together with the North Rhine-Westphalia Cybercrime Central and Contact Office (ZAC NRW).
“TikTok exploits children”: 14 US states are suing TikTokAll the arrested suspects, said to be part of the platform’s leadership, remain in custody. They are accused of “gang-like distribution of child pornography”. After initial evaluation of the seized material, investigators were already able to identify active users worldwide “in the mid-six-figure range across the board.” Duisburg police said on TuesdayHowever, the exact amount of data still cannot be estimated. 13.5 terabytes were visible on just one respondent’s computer. For photos with an average file size of 4 MB, this corresponds to approximately 3.4 million images. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) stressed that what investigators did was “not a flash in the pan, but a fire on the Kipo scene.” Its “now reduced to a playground for its adversaries”.
NRW Justice Minister talks about “Bang Bang”
Rule is “completely confident” that “we will locate more suspects.” But the most important thing is “to prevent further abuse and free those children who are still in the clutches of pedophilia. We are doing everything possible to achieve this.” NRW Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) spoke of “bang bang”. This sends an unmistakable signal to all perpetrators of child abuse: “You cannot hide. Not behind four walls, not behind a pseudonym and not on the darknet.”
Police found data carriers in almost every form in a suspect’s possession: magnetic tapes, video cassettes, CDs, DVDs, hard drives, and USB sticks. “They pursued every technological innovation for decades to get their material,” Duisburg police chief Alexander Diersselhuis said. According to WDR,
The investigation on the Ruhr was preceded by work by colleagues in Bavaria who were investigating another platform. The reference may have been to a user from Duisburg who registered but “didn’t do much about it”. After registering on the portal the user regretted it and made his access data available to several platforms, which also escalated the matter in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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