Computers and information technology Child protection launches campaign against online paedophilia
Child Protection Switzerland has launched this year's campaign against cybersexual offenses against children and young people. The topic is online paedocrime, as the foundation announced on Wednesday.
27.08.2025, 00:01
SDA
"Online paedophilia can affect any child and protection concerns us all", says the press release from Child Protection Switzerland. According to the James Study 2024 (Youth, Activities, Media - Survey Switzerland), one in four young people in Switzerland were asked to send erotic images of themselves.
On some platforms, it only took a few minutes for young people to be confronted with up to 30 sexual messages, mostly from adults with pedocriminal intentions. According to the Internet Watch Foundation, Switzerland ranked fourth worldwide in 2023 in terms of hosting pedocriminal content.
The perpetrators specifically exploit curiosity, openness, insecurity or loneliness to gain trust, the report continues. Prevention begins in everyday life: with open conversations, age-appropriate education and clear rules for dealing with digital media.
Council of States calls for strategy
Child Protection Switzerland is also calling for a stronger legal framework for digital child protection. Because Switzerland must not miss the boat. The Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) and the cantonal and municipal police forces are among those involved in the Child Protection Switzerland campaign.
Most recently, the Council of States also called for the national government to develop a strategy against deepfake porn and sextortion. The requested strategy should also take into account the protection of children and young people in particular.
The national cyber strategy does not address the problem of image manipulation or cyber pedocriminality. According to the majority of the Council of States, protection against massive personality violations and paedocriminal violence online through manipulated images must be considered comprehensively.
