Last June 17, the European Parliament approved its position on a draft directive aimed to update the EU 2011 directive on child sexual abuse and exploitation, in order to enhance the capacity of EU member states to combat child sexual abuse (CSA) effectively.

This proposal aims to “adapt legislation to new technologies, for example artificial but realistic-looking deepfake CSA material, and ensure that abuse and solicitation can be prosecuted regardless of whether they occurred online or in the real world”.

It will also criminalise the creation, possession and sharing of child sexual abuse material generated using artificial intelligence.

The text also covers offences related to grooming, sextortion, and livestreamed abuse, while addressing legal definitions and age of consent issues across the EU.

“MEPs also want to abolish limitation periods for crimes covered by the updated law, since statistics show that the majority of victims only speak up long after the offence occurred. Victims should also be able to seek compensation indefinitely”, states the EU Parliament.

Age verification

Parliament also added a last-minute amendment calling to force pornographic websites to put in place “robust and effective age verification tools to effectively prevent children from accessing pornographic content online”.

“Disseminating pornographic content online without this requirement being met, shall be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 1year”, reads the amendment.

Broad majority

The full proposal passed with 599 votes in favour, two against, and 62 abstentions.

However, this is not the final step. Negotiations on this issue between Parliament, the Council of the EU (which represents the national governments) and the European Commission started this week.