Unravelling the dynamics of child sexual exploitation material circulation on the Dark Web

Pramod Divakarmurthy; Bruno Requião da Cunha; Jean Fernando Passold; Marcos Oliveira; Ronaldo Menezes

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0306516

Unravelling the dynamics of child sexual exploitation material circulation on the Dark Web

Pramod Divakarmurthy^*, Bruno Requião da Cunha, Jean Fernando Passold, Marcos Oliveira, Ronaldo Menezes^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the detection of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), with perpetrators increasingly turning to advanced encryption technologies to conceal their activities. This study delves into data from a Brazilian Federal Police operation on the Tor network, aimed at disrupting these illicit activities. We uncovered patterns indicating strong user preferences for certain content categories, suggesting the existence of distinct groups with shared interests. Additionally, our findings reveal consistent activity patterns among users, including specific 24-hour, 12-hour, and 6-hour consumption cycles. This research offers insights into the online behavior related to CSEM, providing a foundation for further investigation and the development of effective policy measures.

Original language	English
Article number	e0306516
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	19
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306516
Publication status	Published - Jul 2024

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© 2024 Divakarmurthy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Unravelling the dynamics of child sexual exploitation material circulation on the Dark Web

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