Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry in new agreement on blocking internet sites depicting child sexual abuse
Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said on August 11 that it had signed an agreement with another company on filtering out internet sites containing material depicting sexual abuse of children.
The agreement was signed in July by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Roumyana Buchvarova and the executive director of Blizoo Media and Broadband, Lars Anders Rundgren, the ministry said. The first such agreement was concluded in 2014 between the ministry and Telenor Bulgaria AD.
The agreement concerns a list of domains of websites to be filtered out, based on addresses identified by Interpol as including sexual violence against children. The Interpol “Worst Of List” details sites containing material, including videos and images, of sexual violence against children.
The list was drawn up to prevent and curb the global spread of images of child sexual abuse. Interpol provides it to ISPs with the specific aim to limit the spread of such scenes by blocking access to such materials.
The Interior Ministry said that under the first agreement in 2014, with Telenor, information had been regularly submitted to the company and such was the good interaction that steps had been taken to expand the project.
A website and platform were developed, www.spasidete.bg, and the ministry provides the list to ISPs who want to join the initiative of law enforcement bodies to ensure a safer internet for children and adolescents.
The provider has the obligation to process the information from the list provided in accordance with the rules of Interpol, and strictly adhere to the requirements of data protection and confidentiality.
Through the use of the filter, any attempt to use the ISP’s network to open a website that contains a photo or video material showing sexual abuse of children results in the subscriber being automatically be redirected to the STOP-page, which informs the use that access to the site is prohibited and provides information the reason for blocking.
The ministry said that it was in the process of signing an agreement with another major internet service provider in Bulgaria.
(Photo: Brian Lary/sxc.hu)