The Virtual Global Taskforce is using today’s Safer Internet Day (Tuesday, 11 February) to highlight the importance of partnerships and international collaboration in the fight against global online child sexual exploitation.
This year’s theme for Safer Internet Day, ‘Together for a better internet’, calls on industry partners, stakeholders, and other organisations to help make the internet a safer place for all, especially children and young people.
The Virtual Global Taskforce was established in 2004 as a direct response to the rise in offenders targeting children all over the world through online social interactions and travelling overseas to commit contact sexual abuse.
The growth and expansion of the Virtual Global Taskforce during the past 20 years highlights the enduring drive and commitment by international law enforcement agencies to create a hostile digital environment for those seeking to commit and profit from crimes against children.
Taskforce Chair Justine Gough said the Virtual Global Taskforce would continue to collaborate to identify and disrupt online child sexual abuse and offenders involved in the exploitation of children.
“The Virtual Global Taskforce provides a collaborative and united approach to tackling child sexual abuse, which is becoming more complex and severe with the evolution of technology,” Assistant Commissioner Gough said.
“A collaborative approach is essential as technology allows offenders to operate without geographic limits.”
An important role for the Taskforce is to identify and respond to evolving global threats and challenges, most recently the advance of End-to-End Encryption and the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence.
Taskforce Chair Justine Gough said the Virtual Global Taskforce would continue to focus on emerging technologies being misused by criminals to facilitate online child sexual abuse.
“Adapting to the rapid pace of ever-changing technology is crucial in the global fight against online child sexual abuse,” Assistant Commissioner Gough said.
“Our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of children, and the Virtual Global Taskforce will continue to enhance our capabilities to remain agile to these evolving threats.”
The Virtual Global Taskforce is an alliance of 15 international law enforcement agencies, being the Australian Federal Police (Chair), United Kingdom – ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Crime Agency, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Police of Colombia, Philippine ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Police, Philippine ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Bureau of Investigations, Netherlands ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Police, Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand Police, Kenya ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Police Service, Korean ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Police Agency, United States ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾land Security Investigations, United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, INTERPOL and EUROPOL.
The Australian Federal Police assumed the role of Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce on 1 November, 2024 for a three-year period.
