Banks campaign to crush child pornography on the net

Bankers at the launch

Sixteen banks across the country this week pledged to eradicate the problem of child pornography through concerted, cross industry action to cut off the funding of pornographic websites which exploit children.

This signals the first initiative by a number of banks that have joined together to fight a cause such as this in Sri Lanka. The 'B3CPI' campaign, was launched this past Monday to coincide with Universal Children's Day.

B3CPI was formed in early 2007 with the participation of all major banks in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Banks' Association and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Together with the Cards Industry Task Force (CITF), B3CPI formulated mechanisms to avoid the offending merchants or cardholders from using the cards systems to access child pornography on the internet.

Secretary General of the Banks' Association, Upali De Silva said that all commercial banks in the country had no hesitation in extending its support to this vital programme to eliminate the abuse of the worst kind, especially considering the contribution the banks could make towards identifying and shutting off the flow of funds to commercial sources of child pornography through credit card transactions which seem to make up the bulk of the business of child pornography.

In support of the initiative, the Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has issued a circular to all commercial banks drawing attention to clause 33 of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA) No.6 of 2006 which lists offences against children as an unlawful activity in terms of the law.

The B3CPI process that will be launched in each of the banks card centres with immediate effect will track any payments made to suspicious websites and identify and flag these merchants. The banks will then take independent action to terminate their relationship with such merchants as well as flag their names with international organization such as MasterCard and Visa. The banks' coalition will also launch a customer hotline (2480500) through which customers can call in and report any suspicious websites or find out more about this issue.

CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Clive Haswell said the initiative has been launched in 56 countries worldwide and has received strong support from the Central Bank and the banking industry at large to take up Standard Chartered Bank's proposal. "We have begun to make significant progress towards fighting this deadly crime by preventing Internet child pornography merchants from suing financial payment systems in Sri Lanka," he said. "Sri Lanka can be proud of the fact that it is one of the first countries in which the banking community has taken a pro-active stance with all parties consciously working together."

An alarming increase in the numbers of children appearing in pornographic images everyday and the ages of the children involved getting younger is a growing trend. The need for immediate action with regards to creating awareness on the issue and deterring the financial network that supports these websites is critical. Sri Lanka continues to be a major source of children who appear in the websites. Chairperson of P.E.A.C.E. (Protecting Environment and Children Everywhere), Maureen Seneviratne has been working to combat commercial sexual exploitation against children over the last 15 years and she said the initiative from the banks is welcome support to an issue that has long been overlooked.

According to Seneviratne, child abuse is not a prerogative of tourists only but is 'a vicious network all over the world and has supporters in Sri Lanka.' She described the victims as being 'the poorest of the poor', coming from various beach resorts around the country. "Poverty has not been alleviated in the least," she said, adding that parents even sell their children to be beheaded due to abject and utter poverty. Wherever there is poverty, child sexual exploitation flourishes.

Seneviratne said most of the victims are boys whose parents get paid approximately Rs.5000. She stressed the difficulty in rehabilitating these children after such severe sexual abuse as many are given alcohol, drugs and have violent tendencies. The abusers, foreign and local, end up making huge amounts of money, having violated children. She said the underworld is a powerful force is all parts of Sri Lanka.

Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal also spoke at the launch of B3CPI. He said banks have the privilege of being one of the largest users of the Internet and sees it as a tremendous tool for the future development of the country. However, it is also the responsibility of banks to crush areas not beneficial to society. He added that banks are forces that have great influence to make changes in the economy and sees this initiative as a great social responsibility.

The following banks and one institution have pledged their commitment to this campaign: Bank of Ceylon, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank Ltd, Deutsche Bank, DFCC Bank, Hatton National Bank, HSBC, Indian Overseas Bank, National Savings Bank, Nations Trust Bank, PABC Bank, Peoples Bank, Sampath Bank Ltd, Seylan Cards Centre, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank.