Dutch police help take down AI child porn ring; 25 arrested worldwide
The Dutch police participated in an operation against child pornography generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Twenty-five suspects were arrested in project Cumberland, which involved police in 19 countries and Europol. The Dutch police had cease-and-desist conversations with four persons suspected of buying AI-generated child pornography.
The main suspect is a Danish national arrested in November last year. According to Europol, he ran a platform where he distributed the AI-generated child pornography he produced. Users paid a small fee to access the platform and watch children being abused.
In the investigation led by the Danish police and coordinated by Europol, the authorities in 19 countries identified 273 suspected users and distributors on this platform. 25 suspects were arrested, most simultaneously on February 26 during a global operation. The authorities also searched 33 homes and seized 173 electronic devices.
The Dutch police’s Child Pornography and Child Sex Tourism Team (TBKK) participated in the investigation. “We do not distinguish between images of real children and AI-generated images,” said Ben van Mierlo, the national coordinator of the TBKK. “Not only because child pornography made with AI cannot always be distinguished from ‘real’ abuse images, but also because real abuse material is used to create child pornographic AI images. These images ‘help’ the AI tool to improve itself. In addition, it can actually facilitate sexual abuse.”
The Dutch police held warning conversations with four users of the Danish man’s platform. “Every month, they received a new folder with between 500 and 1,500 images.” The suspects were identified based on their PayPal payments.
“These are suspects who have not committed similar acts before and who do not have children in their immediate vicinity,” Van Mierlo said. “With the warning interviews, we want to send a signal that we know what they are doing and that they must stop their activities.”
Van Mierlo: “Due to the rise of this technology, we now find it especially important to send a very clear message: making, buying, and distributing child pornography - even if it is made with AI - is punishable. Stop it and seek help, for example from the organization Stop It Now.”
