The GSM Association Assocation has launched the Mobile Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Content to prevent mobile networks being used to deliver child pornography.
While the vast majority of child sexual abuse content is today accessed through fixed-line internet connections, there is a danger that the broadband networks now being rolled out by mobile operators could be misused in the same way.
The alliance is founded by the GSMA, and ten European mobile operators -Hutchison 3G Europe, mobilkom austria, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica/02, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group and dotMobi.
Members of the alliance will prevent access to web sites identified by police and other agencies as hosting child porn. They will also implement Notice and Take Down processes to enable the removal of any such content posted on their own services, the GSMA said.
"As our industry rolls out mobile broadband networks that provide quick and easy access to multimedia Web sites, we must put safeguards in place to obstruct criminals looking to use mobile services as a means of accessing or hosting pictures and videos of children being sexually-abused," said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSMA.