Child pornography and revenge porn on Telegram: over 13 million Italian accounts involved in the tour
A PermessoNegato report targets the diffusion of Italian revenge porn: “groups share pedophilia, but the authorities do not intervene”.
Over 13 million accounts are registered in Italian-language Telegram channels and groups dedicated to sharing non-consensual pornography. A Permit Denied report reveals it. “Some of these groups share child pornography,” the study reads.
PermessoNegato was born in November 2019, and is a non-profit association that studies and investigates the phenomenon of illicit online pornography, providing assistance to victims of revenge porn. Since its inception, the non-profit has provided an average of 4,000 victims of nonconsensual pornography (legal and psychological) assistance each year.
The Permanent Observatory of PermessoDegato has identified 231 Italian Telegram groups and channels active in sharing Non-Consensual Pornography. Collectively, these groups have 13,152,000 (non-unique) accounts. The largest group has 540,000 accounts, which probably correspond to as many people in the flesh.
A different story for the other data: the over 13 million accounts are simply the sum of subscribers to each of the channels and groups identified by the observatory, which however estimates an overlap of users between different groups of around 65%.
Many of the contents offered by these channels, explains PermessoNegato, come from Only Fans. Images intended for paying subscribers are shared without the consent (and any remuneration) of the creator or content creator. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, because the groups studied also frequently share child pornography. The association denounces “the continuous disinterest of the police forces”, complaining about the scarce resources used in the fight against illegal pornography and online abuse.
