Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy

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dc.contributor.authorNurmi, J., Paju, A., Brumley, B. B., Insoll, T., Ovaska, A. K., Soloveva, V., ... & Arroyo, D.
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-17T18:32:21Z
dc.date.available2024-04-17T18:32:21Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractTor is widely used for staying anonymous online and accessing onion websites; unfortunately, Tor is popular for distributing and viewing illicit child sexual abuse material (CSAM). From 2018 to 2023, we analyse 176,683 onion domains and find that one-fifth share CSAM. We find that CSAM is easily available using 21 out of the 26 most-used Tor search engines. We analyse 110,133,715 search sessions from the Ahmia.fi search engine and discover that 11.1% seek CSAM. When searching CSAM by age, 40.5% search for 11-year-olds and younger; 11.0% for 12-year-olds; 8.2% for 13-year-olds; 11.6% for 14-year-olds; 10.9% for 15-year-olds; and 12.7% for 16-year-olds. We demonstrate accurate filtering for search engines, introduce intervention, show a questionnaire for CSAM users, and analyse 11,470 responses. 65.3% of CSAM users first saw the material when they were children themselves, and half of the respondents first saw the material accidentally, demonstrating the availability of CSAM. 48.1% want to stop using CSAM. Some seek help through Tor, and self-help websites are popular. Our survey finds commonalities between CSAM use and addiction. Help-seeking correlates with increasing viewing duration and frequency, depression, anxiety, self-harming thoughts, guilt, and shame. Yet, 73.9% of help seekers have not been able to receive it.
dc.identifier.citationNurmi, J., Paju, A., Brumley, B. B., Insoll, T., Ovaska, A. K., Soloveva, V., ... & Arroyo, D. (2024). Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 7849.
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58346-7
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11212/6197
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherScientific Reports
dc.subjectchild sexual abuse mterial
dc.subjectconsumers
dc.subjectonline CSAM
dc.subjectnetworks
dc.subjectintervention
dc.subjectsurvey
dc.subjectFinland
dc.subjectInternational publications
dc.titleInvestigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy
dc.typeArticle

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