Law Enforcement in Hesse Tackle Child Pornography Streaming Platform on the Darknet in Collaboration with International Agencies
In a significant move against online child exploitation, German authorities have announced the seizure of a Darknet streaming platform called "KidFlix." The operation, known as "Operation Stream," was a worldwide coordinated effort, with Europol taking the lead at the request of the Bavarian State Criminal Office.
The General Prosecutor's Office Frankfurt am Main - Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Hessian State Criminal Office (HLKA) are at the forefront of this investigation. The ZKI of the General Prosecutor's Office Bamberg and the Bavarian State Criminal Office made the announcement of the seizure, which was also reported by news aktuell.
"KidFlix" was a platform where users could stream incriminated content, write in the chat, and insert links to incriminated content. It could only be reached via the Darknet. The start page of the platform already showed a selection of incriminated videos.
Users had free access to approximately 54,000 incriminated contents. However, the announcement does not provide information about any further actions being taken to prevent similar platforms from emerging.
During house searches in Hesse, 141 delict-specific items were secured, including laptops, tablets, USB sticks, memory cards, and smartphones. As a result, seven suspects are being investigated for the suspicion of distributing, acquiring, and possessing child pornographic material according to § 184b of the German Criminal Code (StGB).
For more information, the Hessian State Criminal Office can be contacted at Laura Kaufmann-Conrad (0611/83-8310, [email protected], http://www.polizei.hessen.de). For inquiries related to the General Prosecutor's Office Frankfurt am Main, you can contact Dr. Benjamin Krause at 069/1367-4236 or [email protected].
The worldwide operation against "KidFlix" involved a total of 38 states between March 10 and 23. The police officers involved in the operation belong to the unit FOKUS, which specializes in fighting sexual offenses against children and young people.
This seizure is a significant step in the fight against child pornography on the Darknet and underscores the commitment of German authorities to protect children from such heinous crimes.
