The police's work against sexual abuse of children in digital environments

Teresa Carvalho (S)

Madam Speaker! Today something unusual but very good is happening. It is unusual because we Social Democrats put forward very many proposals here in the Riksdag, but they are almost always voted down by the majority. Today, however, is different, because today, as I understand it, all parties here in the chamber are joining behind our initiative to act against sexual abuse of children in digital environments and are directing a joint announcement to the government. This means in plain language that the Riksdag is forcing the government to act, and that is good. It is an important victory for Sweden's children.

Madam Speaker! The reason we stand here today is the recent months' dark reports – so dark that one can almost not bear to take them in – with hideous, inhuman stories.

One example is Dagens Nyheter's report on the digital rape industry in the Philippines, where Swedish men pay to watch children being raped – sometimes by their own parents. Another example is that more and more reports tell about sugar dating sites that facilitate contacts between adult men and children, where the adult offers money and gifts in exchange for a relationship that is often sexual – that is, commercial exploitation and child prostitution.

A third example is online companies that sell sex dolls that look like children with children's bodies and with a teddy bear in their arms. They are marketed as erotic products for male masturbation and are obviously intended for pedophiles with a sexual interest in children. They normalize sexual abuse of children and risk triggering actual abuse of real children – children who must be protected.

These examples are not random incidents but a development. It is a development where children are sexualized, exploited, and exposed, and where technology makes it easier than ever to commit crimes without even needing to leave home. While this is happening, we in Sweden must not turn a blind eye or remain silent.

Madam Speaker! This was, as mentioned, the origin of why we Social Democrats a few weeks ago took the initiative in the Committee on Justice to demand that the government do more to protect children from sexual abuse online.

One thing is already underway, and we Social Democrats stand behind it wholeheartedly, namely that repeat sex offenders and pedophiles should be able to receive indefinite prison sentences and remain locked up as long as there is a risk of recidivism. We must, however, do more to prevent children from being subjected to grooming and sexual abuse online in the first place. That is what we are now demanding from the government.

What does the demand that the Riksdag is directing towards the government with a unanimous vote today mean more concretely? Well, it means that the government must take measures to intensify the police's work against sexual abuse of children online, including by blocking internet traffic through blocking pages. This applies not only to sites containing obvious child pornography but also to sites that promote sexual exploitation and abuse of children, such as sugar dating ads with children or e-commerce with pedophile dolls. This is what we are now forcing the government to do, and the government must then handle it further and translate the demand into action.

I also noted on the way here, Madam Speaker, that the government has just published an op-ed in Expressen where they say they intend to proceed with the demand. It is very good that they are committed to it right from the start, so that no time is wasted. I can think it is a bit petty that they did not also transparently state that it was we Social Democrats who gathered all the parties behind the joint demand on the government.

Well – it is not so important who said or did what first, what is important is that something is finally happening. The demand on the government is therefore partly about broadening the police's stop pages to include more sites, but there will also be a broader demand to do more to protect children from sexual exploitation online.

Since we now seem to have the government's ear, I would like to take the opportunity to submit the proposal that we Social Democrats have presented here in the Riksdag and which will be addressed during the spring term. I hope that the Minister for Justice listens particularly closely, so that this too can become a reality.

Firstly, we argue that in addition to the police's blocklists, which are based on a voluntary commitment from internet service providers, legislation is needed that gives the police the authority to order the closure of sites containing sexual exploitation of children. It is good that the government will now have to task the police with expanding the blocklists, but as stated, mandatory legislation is also needed. There must not be pedophile dolls to buy on the internet or sugar dating ads with children. Such sites shall be shut down in Sweden.

Secondly, we want to review the so-called puberty requirement. Today, the assessment of whether something is child pornography or not can be determined by how the body looks, not by whether the material depicts a child or not. Since children can go through puberty at a relatively young age, it can happen that an offense is not classified as child pornography even though it concerns a child. It is a loophole that we think needs to be removed, because a child is a child and all sexualized material concerning minors should be illegal.

Thirdly, we want to introduce age verification to limit children's access to violence-glorifying pornography. Violence porn gives young boys and girls a distorted image of sex and intercourse and is an incredibly harmful phenomenon.

All these parts, we Social Democrats believe, are necessary to protect children from abuse and sexual exploitation online. I assume that the government will return to the Riksdag with proposals in that direction now that the Riksdag is actually directing a united demand toward the government to do more to protect children in this regard.

Madam Speaker! We must never allow the sexualization of children to be normalized. The line must be clear, and we are reinforcing that line today. Children are the most important thing we have, and we must protect them at all costs. Therefore, we are now pushing the government ahead of us and forcing the government to act against the sexual exploitation that children are subjected to online, including by stopping internet traffic to sites that promote sexual abuse of children, such as for example sugar dating ads or the sale of pedophile dolls. But that is only the first step.

I will not slow down my fight to protect our children from grooming or sexual exploitation. I will continue to be a watchdog over the Minister for Justice – and in good company.

Madam Speaker! Many are engaged in this issue in civil society and among individual citizens. I want to conclude by highlighting the invaluable work that organizations such as Child X and others do to support the vulnerable, bring their experiences into politics, and contribute to real change. A big thank you for your important work – keep it up!

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damsgaard (M)

Madam Speaker! The member and I had a conversation here outside about the fact that there probably would not be any replies tonight unless one became upset.

To begin with, I am pleased that we can manifest unity regarding further strengthening the work against sexual abuse online. It is a crime that has reached horrific proportions and which must be combated with full force. Much is being done, but significantly more needs to be done. The broad consensus also strengthens the power and pressure in the work towards various digital platforms, which need to take greater responsibility than they do today.

The reason I requested a reply is not that we disagree on the substance, but rather the member's historiography regarding the matter as such. It is quite true that the Social Democrats submitted a proposal to the committee. But those listening to the debate should be aware that the proposed committee initiative was limited primarily to the issue of the pedophile dolls, or the child sex dolls. We from the Moderates' and the government parties' side – and the rest of the committee, I believe – considered it to be far too narrow. The civil society organization Child X also pointed out in an email to us that if the committee were to propose a referral to the government, it must be broader than that. We took note of that.

We returned to the committee and said that we are happy to proceed with an initiative regarding child pornography, but that one also needs to look at the broader issues surrounding sexual abuse online and what needs to be done there. We have given and taken, but it is not the case that the Social Democrats have unilaterally pushed the government forward.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Teresa Carvalho (S)

Madam Speaker! I am truly glad that we stand here today and jointly compel the government to act to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse. It is secondary for me who said and did what when and so on. But sure – let us sort that out for everyone who is interested in the order of proceedings.

Just as Mikael Damsgaard explained, it was we Social Democrats who, after a number of questions and various public demonstrations regarding this issue, proposed a committee initiative in the Committee on Justice on the grounds that the sale of these horrific pedophile dolls has been noticed both in Sweden and in other countries.

We saw how the French government, in just a few days, demanded that the e-commerce platforms remove the dolls and achieved good results. They got companies to promise to remove the dolls immediately, contribute to clarifying what happened, and ensure that it would not happen again. We lacked that initiative from the government and therefore went to the Committee on Justice. We did that in this matter because a committee initiative is supposed to be of an urgent nature. It should not be something that has been proposed previously.

As I explained in my speech, the Social Democrats have broader proposals to counter sexual exploitation of children online, but this specific initiative was, from the very beginning, very much about getting rid of the pedophile dolls. My colleagues and I were very pleased that there was interest in broadening the initiative, and I am very pleased that we are now jointly forcing the government to act.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damsgaard (M)

Madam Speaker! That was exactly my point. It is good that we agree on collectively manifesting unity and that there must be strength in this work.

The government has done and is doing very much in this area during the entire mandate period. A number of measures are being taken which I will account for later in my speech, but it is nevertheless important that the historiography remains correct. The Social Democrats took an initiative linked to child pornography. The Moderates argued that if the initiative were to be taken further, it needed to be broadened and encompass the larger issue surrounding sexual abuse online against children. There we could meet. I am very grateful for that.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Teresa Carvalho (S)

Madam Speaker! No one is happier than I and the Social Democrats that there was an interest in broadening the issue from only concerning pedophile dolls to also concerning other things that we need to protect our children from on the internet.

I also hope, Mikael Damsgaard, that the government, the Moderates and others in the chamber who think it is important to broaden the issue, deliver on the other issues that we Social Democrats are driving and which I outlined, this in order to protect children from sexual exploitation online. Remove the puberty requirement! Ensure that the police can shut down sites that have sugar dating ads with children! I agree that there is much that can be done. It is not just about the pedophile dolls, but that was a proposal. I am glad that you stepped up on that, and I am glad that there is now interest in doing much more.

Do you know what the best part of it all is? It is that in our [motion] there are opportunities to also vote for the Social Democrats' proposals in several areas to protect children from sexual exploitation online. We have several proposals in our committee motion, which will be handled in the Committee on Justice and then in the Chamber during the spring term.

I look forward to Mikael Damsgaard's and the Moderates' support to also remove the puberty requirement, shut down internet sites that promote the exploitation of children, and much more. I look forward to us showing and manifesting the same unity as we do today to get the pedophile dolls out of Sweden.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Katja Nyberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! No one among us should really have to stand here and debate this report. But the reality is unfortunately such that children are subjected to sexual abuse in digital environments, in Sweden and internationally. Sweden unfortunately stands out in the statistics. Dagens Nyheter's investigation shows that Swedish men order abuse of Filipino children over the internet and that both the transactions and the number of suspects are high while the prosecution is low.

The Committee on Justice has therefore taken the initiative for a motion, and the Sweden Democrats naturally stand behind this committee initiative. Children must be protected, and today's efforts have not been sufficient.

Madam Speaker! The National Audit Office already pointed out in 2021 several serious deficiencies in the police's work against internet-related sexual offenses against children. Since then, the Government has implemented several measures. A national IT support has been introduced, training has been expanded, and a new working method for child pornography crimes has been developed together with the Prosecution Authority. But as the committee notes, it is not enough. Investigation times are still long, suspects can continue to be active, and the police's resources are insufficient to handle the amount of material.

Today, the police are cooperating with internet service providers on a blocklist that blocks websites with child pornographic material, but it needs to be developed. It is not just about pure abuse images, but about sites that enable or promote abuse, such as sugar dating sites where minors are brokered to adults or platforms where child-like sex dolls are sold. That such environments are allowed to exist and create demand is unacceptable. We must close every loophole in the system where children risk being exploited.

Madam Speaker! A lot is happening in this area right now, and it is important to remind that it is the current government that is driving this work forward. The Penal Reform Commission proposes increased maximum sentences for aggravated rape of a child from ten to twelve years, as well as the possibility of life imprisonment as a joint sentence for several serious crimes. The investigation on provocative measures proposes that the police should be allowed to create AI-generated material to infiltrate closed pedophile networks. New secret coercive measures were introduced in 2023 to facilitate the fight against, among other things, serious child pornography crimes. The government is pressing the EU and tech giants to take responsibility, not least regarding child-like sex dolls and grooming.

All of this is a result of the criminal policy direction that the Tidö Agreement points out, with tougher measures against sexual offenses, reinforced powers for the police, and a society that stands on the side of the crime victims, not the perpetrators.

The committee notes that the measures taken so far are not sufficient. Therefore, it is now proposed that the government mandate the Swedish Police Authority to immediately intensify the work against digital sexual abuse of children. There are also proposals to develop the blocklist so that more websites that enable abuse can be included.

Madam Speaker! It is difficult to overstate the seriousness of the abuses occurring against children online. Every image, every film, and every contact attempt is a crime against a child who carries the memories with them for the rest of their life. This issue must never become a subject of partisan politics. Sverigedemokraterna stands behind the initiative, and we will continue to stand up for the child's right to safety offline and online.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Damsgaard (M)

Madam Speaker! Recently, internet-related sexual crimes against children have drawn great attention and disgust. In the media, there have been reports of livestreamed rapes of children in the Philippines, directed by perpetrators from among other places, Sweden. We have been able to read about an open trade with child-like sex dolls on several large e-commerce platforms. These are heinous abuses and occurrences.

The issue of sexual abuse against children is unfortunately not new, and extensive work is already underway in this area. But digitalization has enabled a rapid development of the forms of abuse and has, in a short time, expanded the scope to appalling proportions. The legislation has simply not kept up.

In connection with the media attention regarding the sale of child-like sex dolls on the internet, Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall convened a meeting at the end of November with representatives from e-commerce, children's rights organizations, and authorities. The government has also engaged in dialogue with tech companies. As recently as December 3, representatives for the government met with platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Google, and Meta to discuss measures against grooming and sexual exploitation of children.

The message from the government is clear: the tech companies must do more and act faster to protect the children. The work to create change continues both here in Sweden and jointly within the EU.

At the same time, Madam Speaker, as a government representative acting towards the tech companies and e-commerce platforms, the Social Democrats in the committee raised the issue of stopping the pedophile dolls. It was an initiative that we welcomed. No one in this chamber can do anything other than agree that the sale of these objects must cease. The proposals were that the government should promptly ensure that the dolls could never reach Swedish buyers and that the police should be tasked with updating their so-called blocking pages on the internet to prevent all traffic to sites that sell abuse material or such objects. It is something that we fully support.

At the same time, we from the Moderaterna and other parties in the government cooperation noted that the proposals that the Socialdemokrater initiated were far too limited in relation to the scope of the problem. It was also something that civil society organizations such as Child X pointed out.

What we are discussing is not just about a certain type of dolls or individual websites, but about a multitude of different phenomena and occurrences online that enable and trigger abuse against children. We therefore pushed to broaden the matter to encompass a larger problem of sexual abuse against children online, and we are very pleased that the committee was able to reach a consensus on this.

Madam Speaker! Let me remind you that it is not the first time the Riksdag has pushed for a stronger offensive against abuse of children online. Already in the spring of 2022, the Committee on Justice presented a proposal for a motion with demands for measures, after the National Audit Office had presented criticism regarding how the police and prosecutors handled internet-related sexual offenses against children.

Unfortunately, the Social Democrats then chose to vote no to that proposal, citing that the then Social Democratic government was already doing enough. But the wise majority of the Riksdag went against that line and decided on a motion to the then government.

Madam Speaker! The development since then has shown that it was right and proper. There was a need then, and there is a need now. But it is also clear that the current government during this time has taken the issue most seriously and implemented a long series of reinforcements.

The police have significantly better conditions today to investigate abuse against children online than just a few years ago. The investigative work is more cohesive. Specialized groups exist in every region. Methods, tools, and competence have been strengthened.

The police have been given greater opportunities for secret coercive measures in order to be able to investigate crimes. The prosecution authority has developed its methods so that more perpetrators can actually be held accountable. These are initiatives that move the positions forward throughout the entire justice chain.

At the same time, the government continues to develop the tools to be able to meet a crime that often occurs in the shadows and in closed digital environments.

Madam Speaker! The Government has recently received the report Special Provocative Measures, which proposes that the Police Authority should be able to use a completely new and powerful tool in the fight against serious child pornography crimes. The proposal means that the police, under strictly regulated forms, shall be able to produce and share fictitious material in order to be able to infiltrate closed networks where abuses are planned and committed.

The purpose is clear: to be able to expose perpetrators who today hide behind encrypted platforms. The proposal is now out for consultation, and it is being forwarded.

At the same time, the preventive work has been intensified. The police are working more systematically today to detect children who are being exploited in secret, for example via sugar dating or through the purchase of live-streamed abuse.

The Government has today announced that it intends to appoint an inquiry to review what difficulties exist in taking down pages with this type of material. It shall also propose measures that need to be taken.

Madam Speaker! Despite all the measures that have been taken, the latest revelations show how quickly perpetrators adapt and how new forms of exploitation emerge. Therefore, the committee's conclusion is entirely correct: the work must now be further intensified. We therefore stand wholeheartedly behind the committee's initiative.

The blocklists that prevent access to abuse material need to be developed so that they can cover more of the environments where crime occurs or be facilitated. The police's capabilities to detect and stop abuse in the digital environment need to continue to be strengthened. We must keep up the pressure against the global technology platforms.

Madam Speaker! I would like to conclude by thanking the committee members for good cooperation both in this matter and during the year that has passed. This is the final debate for the year.

Let me also, in these Christmas times, express a hope that all children shall have a safe and peaceful Christmas.

I also want to wish Madam Speaker and all colleagues here in the chamber a very Merry Christmas.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Samuel Gonzalez Westling (V)

Madam Speaker! One of the main reasons that this matter is being debated today is a series of articles written by DN a short time ago. To our great horror, we were able to read about how Filipino children of various ages, ranging from young teenagers down to nursing infants, are being exploited and raped for payment.

The investigation reveals that it is often the children's own parents or siblings who sell them. A very large proportion of the men who purchase the sexual abuses, the rapes, come from Sweden.

If I were to try to describe in words what I truly feel regarding sexual abuse of children, the Speaker would probably be forced to expel me from the chamber. Think then what would happen if I were forced to express my feelings about the trade in just the same.

There are no excuses. That it exists at all is a mockery of the children who are subjected to it, but also of ourselves. That this is happening is such a capital failure for us as a society.

It is so appalling that I am considering whether it can even be called us humans civilized at all. I therefore refrain from going into detail about what these abuses consist of.

But I can say as much as that what these children – a thousand and again a thousand children – are exposed to daily is so hideous that if Dante had lived today, it would have been added as another circle in hell in his Inferno.

These children are being subjected to those who should be their greatest source of security in life, family members and parents, and to Western men. Among the worst of them, we have men from Sweden.

The parents cannot be excused, but they can be understood. They have often themselves been subjected to abuse in their childhood. They live in a capitalist system that holds the world in an iron grip.

Capitalism is by its very nature a destructive force against human life. We have seen this time and again through the centuries. One must not confuse capitalism with the free market. They should never be equated with one another. The free market needs regulations and legislation based on morality and ethics.

Capitalism is the absence of morality and ethics. All that remains are the drivers to be able to make a profit in every way possible. It makes people commit misdeeds and at the same time be completely indifferent to the consequences of them.

Of course, one billionaire or another is created. But the price is all too often total misery for the rest of the population. Let us not be deceived by the deceptive appearance that capitalism gives of a better society. It is only a beautiful facade. Behind the facade, it is ruthlessness and exploitation of other people that reigns. In the poverty that follows in its wake, there is misery and desperation that affects all people.

Madam Speaker! The parents cannot be defended. But it is, nevertheless, possible to understand their motivation within the capitalist system. Had their circumstances been different, perhaps the deplorable trade in children that we have seen would never have existed, or at least not in the extent that we have now seen.

When it comes to the buyers, the Swedish men, there is neither forgiveness nor understanding. They are men who think they have the right, and have taken the right, to buy children, other human beings. For what purpose does it happen? To satisfy themselves. There is no one who can excuse it.

It is a shame for us in Sweden that we have become a country where we are heavily overrepresented with perpetrators of this sort. It is good that we here today from all of Sweden's parties can agree that we need to do more to prevent these abominations. It is exactly the same as with the trade in sex dolls with child-like appearance and other things.

I also believe that we all agree that much more is required. The police need to prioritize this type of crime. Let it therefore be completely clear that as long as this type of crime can continue and Sweden stands out in this way, we shall also be very cautious – not to say prevented – from claiming that we constitute the civilized part of the world.

This is a first step, but we need to take many more, and Vänsterpartiet will always stand on the front line against sexual abuse of children. I therefore move for approval of the committee's proposal.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Madam Speaker! Members and listeners on this late evening! I will be honest and say that until some time ago, I had actually never reflected on the phenomenon of sex dolls. To be honest, I hardly knew that they existed. But I know that now.

When I Google, an infinite number of pages come up. I am appalled. On these websites, I encounter the words "flicka" and "tjej" several times. These are pages and points of sale that I now expect to disappear from the face of the earth as soon as possible, after we have hammered out this decision. I want to see those who run these pages and describe these child sex dolls in detail – how they look, what figure they have, how many holes they have; I say it because it must be said, because we must make the world aware of how it actually works – simply prosecuted and convicted. If there is any single loophole in the legislation that allows them to get away with it, it must be closed!

I would like to extend a thanks to the Social Democrats, who have raised the issue in the committee. I would like to thank the committee, which has stood behind it, and I would like to thank the committee secretariat and the government for a swift handling.

There are many things I think are good in the report – from the problem formulation, where we see that Swedish men are overrepresented as suspected perpetrators when it comes to online abuse of children abroad, to the measures to combat the same. But I am a bit worried that the measures do not quite suffice. I will return to that.

The government shows that the work within the police is prioritized and structured in a way that I consider good to stop these heinous crimes. But more is needed.

I send both sympathy and thanks to everyone within the justice chain who works with this, as it must be enormously draining. Further measures that may come are various forms of proactive measures. AI tools are also good, as is the work being done at the EU level.

I am speaking about the directive on combating sexual abuse of children, sexual exploitation of children, and the crime of child pornography. We expect, of course, that it will also clearly state at the European level that this also applies online, in online environments.

Briefly, it can be said that there is legislation that is quite good. It needs to become sharper to also cover material online. Child pornographic material is prohibited. Soliciting contact for sexual purposes towards children is prohibited. Still, companies advertise child sex dolls and use the words "girl" and "girl". How can that be?

I think, of course, that it is good that the government is in dialogue with e-commerce companies and platforms, tech companies and telecommunications service providers, but obviously neither existing legislation nor dialogue is sufficient.

Having a cooperation regarding the so-called blocklist between the police and the telecommunications companies is very good. Sites that have abuse material of children lying up there should be blocked. But the cooperation is voluntary today. The sites that are blocked by one provider can choose another that is not part of the police's voluntary work. That is not how it should be.

We also need to include more types of sites in the cooperation: sites that sell illegal products such as child sex dolls, digital brothels, sugar dating sites, escort sites, sex purchase sites and gambling sites. All of these facilitate, allow or even encourage the purchase of children's bodies. On just five of the largest escort and sugar dating sites in Sweden, there are 1.9 million visits every month. There, real children risk being sold in the sex trade.

That the police are now being tasked to develop and expand the work with the so-called blocklist is necessary, but I am unsure if it will prove to be sufficient when the work is carried out on a voluntary basis and the criminal actors can choose an internet service provider that does not participate in the work with the blocklist.

That is why we, in our special statement from Centerpartiet, have formulated that we of course stand behind the committee's proposal – I move for approval of the committee's proposal – but we will carefully follow the work with the blocking lists. And I assume that the government will report back on how the work progresses.

Should it turn out that the voluntary agreement between the police and internet service providers does not sufficiently prevent sexual abuse against children, we do not rule out that we must return with proposals for legislation in the area. I want to send that signal to everyone outside this chamber: Children's bodies are not for sale.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Torsten Elofsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Let me first say that it was not a problem at all to stand behind the initiative taken by the Social Democrats. There is a very large political consensus regarding this. I believe that even the government in no way felt forced to take this on and put it on its table.

As has been stated here, sexual abuse against children is a growing problem, both online and offline. During 2023 alone, 1.3 million cases of sexual abuse against children were reported in the EU, which includes more than 3.4 million images and videos. Reports of sexual abuse against children have also increased significantly globally – from 1 million reports in 2010 to nearly 36 million in 2023, including 105 million images and videos. These are enormous volumes we are talking about online.

Sweden does not, as mentioned by several speakers, constitute an exception in any way regarding this. On the contrary, the review shows that our country stands out, not least when it comes to gross abuses against Philippine children, with high numbers regarding the number of monetary transactions and the number of suspected perpetrators, while the number of judges is low.

Furthermore, the review shows that the investigation times at the police are long, that suspected perpetrators have been able to remain active during the investigation period, and that the police, according to their own statement, must prioritize work with the most serious crimes.

Madam Speaker! According to the Internet Watch Foundation, the EU, including Sweden, still ranks highest in the world when it comes to hosting images and videos of sexual abuse against children. The commitment of online companies is crucial. The proactive detection of sexual abuse against children online by the companies has been decisive in saving children from ongoing abuse. In many cases, the companies are the only ones who can detect and report the abuse, either because the child does not dare or is too young to report, because parents and guardians are unaware of the abuse, or because the parents or guardians themselves are perpetrators. It requires continued increased cooperation from the police with the online companies and the platforms that are there.

There is also a cooperation ongoing at the EU level, called CSAM, Child Sexual Abuse Material, where they are trying to reach an agreement on how to handle these issues. It is something that I think we must continue to discuss also within the committee – how we proceed with those issues.

Behind every image and video, there is a real child being subjected to abuse. Sexual abuse against children has lifelong consequences for the victims. Every time the perpetrators share images and videos online, the violation of their privacy continues, often for years. The victims must live with the knowledge that content showing the worst moments of their lives is being circulated and that anyone, including friends and relatives, can see it.

The development of the digital world has made this crime global, which contributes to the creation of a global market for material involving sexual abuse of children shared online across borders. The internet offers anonymity and an environment where perpetrators can interact and exchange material and manuals on how to groom and exploit minors.

Perpetrators of sexual abuse against children have become increasingly sophisticated in their use of technology. By, for example, using social media with end-to-end encryption, perpetrators share and trade images and videos with impunity. There are often closed groups on social media that require a so-called entry fee in exchange for new, unseen material involving sexual abuse against children.

Watching material involving sexual abuse of children is therefore not just a passive crime. It actively fuels the demand for more content to be produced. Every time material is consumed, it encourages perpetrators to exploit children, which further promotes the cycle of abuse and victimization. Research also shows that almost half of those who view sexual abuse of children online seek physical contact with children to subject them to similar abuse.

Madam Speaker! It is clear that the efforts made so far have not been sufficient to meet the needs. The police authority should therefore be tasked with prioritizing and intensifying the work against sexual abuse of children in digital environments.

Another phenomenon of this sexual perversion has now appeared, as mentioned by previous speakers, in the form of child-like sex dolls being sold online. There can be nothing that legitimizes or justifies such production and sale. The sale and demand are repulsive in themselves, but this also increases the risk of sexual abuse of small children in real life. It is a morbid behavior. For men who relapse into these types of perversions, we from the Kristdemokraterna side believe that chemical castration should become an option.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker! We Christian Democrats welcome the initiative and stand behind what is stated regarding the police's blacklist and the police's work in general against sexual offenses against children in digital environments.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Madam Speaker! The committee initiative that we are discussing here tonight came at the Social Democrats' initiative after they and all of us others, I assume, had taken part of the media reporting about, among other things, Swedish citizens who commit sexual abuse on Filipino children over the internet and about the much-discussed sex dolls.

A unanimous committee stated that it was of very great importance that we expedited the work against this type of abuse and that the work should be carried out expeditiously and with priority.

It is pleasing that there was such a consensus in the committee, and it is pleasing that it went so quickly to broaden the original committee initiative to also touch upon a few more areas. I think we should focus on what can be seen as a message of strength, because it is very unusual for a committee initiative to be moved forward in this way. I interpret that simply as there being a great commitment and many members from different parties, including us in Miljöpartiet, who want this work to be prioritized.

Naturally, many measures have already been taken when it comes to the police's work against internet-related abuse of children. But as has been said previously by several speakers, it is clear that those efforts have not been sufficient to meet the needs. That is why the committee tells the government that it should promptly task the Swedish Police Authority to prioritize and intensify the work against sexual abuse of children in digital environments and also develop and streamline the work with the investigations, so that investigation times can be shortened and investigation capacity increased. We also believe that the mandate should include the Swedish Police Authority's work with the so-called blocking list.

There may be reason to see how it goes with the voluntary joining of the blacklist and whether we need to review the possibility of mandatory legislation if it turns out that there are various attempts to circumvent the regulatory framework and the voluntariness.

Since there is a broad consensus in the committee regarding exactly what is included in this committee initiative, I would like, just like some other members, to take the opportunity to raise other political proposals that are closely related to what we are discussing today. Among other things, in a motion last year, we had a number of different proposals concerning strengthening the protection for children who are exposed to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. I will mention some of them.

Like some other parties, we want to abolish the puberty requirement. The legislation has been tightened, and the purpose is that even children who are fully pubertally developed should be covered. The legislative change has had some effect, but we believe that the effect is not sufficient. We want the pubertal development not to affect the child's protection at all, since it is not uncommon for even very young children to have undergone full pubertal development. The law must be changed so that a child is simply defined as a person under 18 years of age regardless of the child's stage of pubertal development.

We also want to see strict liability regarding the child's age in cases of sexual offenses against children. It is the perpetrator who bears responsibility for the crime. It should be the responsibility of every adult person to have strict liability for knowing the age of the person against whom they perform a sexual act or are capable of performing a sexual act.

We also want to introduce a new crime concerning sexual extortion of children. We know that sexual extortion of children is very common. Girls can, above all, be pressured to send more nude pictures. A boy can be pressured for money, perhaps after he has sent a nude picture of himself to what he believes is a peer. The girl may turn out to be an adult person who quickly moves on to trying to pressure the boy for money. This also has quite large connections to organized crime.

All circumstances surrounding these different situations are not covered in today's legislation. I am thinking of cases where the children are puberty-developed or when the extortion is not aimed at pressing someone for money. That is why we want to see this new crime: sexual extortion.

We also want to change the crime classifications for child pornography crimes and aggravated child pornography crimes. I have raised this some time before here. There was an investigation in 2023 which stated that there was no legal reason to change the crime classifications, but the investigation pointed out that there could be other reasons to change the classifications and proposed alternative crime classifications: sexual exploitation of children in images and aggravated sexual exploitation of children in images. This is something that many organizations that have been involved in these issues have been pushing for for a long time. We share their view, and we therefore urge the government to proceed with the investigation's alternative proposals.

I think the unity and the commitment that we have shown here in the chamber shows that there is reason to return to the issue. We will have to see where we can meet. There are obviously many good proposals. Regarding many of them, we agree with each other. Regarding some, we do not. But there is a great commitment and a great will from all parties to oppose abuses against children. I think that is fantastic.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helene Odenjung (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the opportunity to discuss this committee initiative.

I do not sit on the Committee on Justice, but I am the children's rights policy spokesperson for the Liberals. Together with, among others, Ulrika Westerlund, we met in the children's network Ecpat a few weeks ago, and what they had to tell us was truly an eye-opener in many ways. Their statistics on how young girls, but also boys, receive unwanted images sent to them are shocking. Even though one thought one was aware and knew what was happening online, it was an eye-opener, at least for me, that there are so many young girls and boys who have images sent to them. It is so common that it is their everyday life, an everyday life that can quickly escalate to threats, extortion, and exploitation.

In the spring, I signed up for Child X's SMS service to see how grooming can occur. Even though I was aware that unwanted messages would now be sent to me, it became incredibly uncomfortable. Suddenly, in situations where one does not expect it, messages are sent to you. Now I am an adult and can handle such things. I can also remind myself: That's right, I signed up for that service. But when this reaches children – probably from adult people, mostly men – and then leads to an increasingly serious spread of threats, exploitation, and extortion, it is extremely serious.

A child should play, laugh, and feel safe. Instead, they become a commodity in the darkest corners of the web. A child who is groomed and exploited has their childhood stolen – that is the reality that we must dare to face.

Globally, Ecpat estimates that over 300 million children have been subjected to sexual abuse online in the last year. That is one in eight children. In Sweden, reports are increasing like an avalanche. The crime of exploiting children for sexual posing alone has increased tenfold in ten years. And these are not just numbers – they are children, children living with lifelong scars.

As several speakers before me have pointed out, we see how the market for abuse material is growing. As if that were not enough, sex dolls depicting children are now also being sold on large e-commerce platforms. It is a grotesque degradation of children's dignity. Every such product is a reminder that abuse does not only occur in the shadows, but that there is an industry making money off children's bodies.

I am very pleased that this committee initiative has been established so quickly, that it broadens the mandate from the start, and that it also sheds light on the large and important work that we collectively have ahead of us to do. To prioritize and intensify the police's work against sexual abuse in digital environments and to expand the blocklist as a tool that blocks sites and platforms where abuse occurs are important matters. It is not the only thing being done, but it is important that we collectively signal that it is not just about technology, but that it is a moral obligation that we do this.

We cannot stand by passively while children lose their sense of security. We need to act, with resources, with legislation, and with clear signals. Therefore, we also fully support the committee initiative.

I also want to take the opportunity to mention that the Liberals also want to change the puberty development requirements in child pornography crimes. There is every reason to return to these issues.

It feels very good as the final speaker tonight – I will not get a rebuttal – to show that Sweden stands united. A child's right to be a child is sacred. We do not tolerate abuse – not offline, not online. We never tolerate it.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 16 December.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)