The demand for new material appears to be reflected in the range of prices observed. While individual video clips can cost as little as US$ 10 each, and subscriptions as little as US$ 50 for 3 months, one video file of new material on demand can cost as much as US$ 1,200.117 sexting-messages may have an especially coercive impact resembling harassment and bullying or resulting in physical violence.125 Mass availability of ICTs has increased the production of and loss of control over such self-generated content. Recipients of such material may distribute content further without the original producers’ permission or the material User-generated content and self-generated may be obtained and distributed from children’s hacked content, including “sexting” accounts, computers or other devices. The problem of free User-generated content is content that is self-created and selfproliferation of user- or self-generated sexual content is published online by Internet users. Common forms of userincreasingly recognized as widespread, with research findings generated content include blogs, videos, podcasts, comments suggesting that up to 88 per cent of self-generated, sexually on articles, forum commentaries, social media postings, and explicit online content has been taken from its original locacontributions to wiki sites. In the context of child abuse and exploitation, self-generated content—a subset of user-­ tion and uploaded elsewhere on the Internet without the original generator’s permission.126 generated content—comprises images and videos that are produced by and feature children, especially teens.118 When content that meets the legal standard for child pornography is generated by minors without any adult “Sexting” is a form of self-generated sexually explicit 119 involvement, coercion, or grooming, and is shared and content, which is generally defined as the “exchange of sextransmitted solely between minors, child pornography posual messages or images”120 that involves “the creating, sharing session and production offences may still technically be and forwarding of sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude applicable, depending upon national ages of criminal images” through mobile phones and/or the Internet.121 Such responsibility. At the extreme, some content may even conmaterial typically involves minors and can be conceived of as stitute evidence of statutory rape, depending upon the age “self-produced child pornography”.122 Quantitative research of minors involved. Any criminal justice response to sexting on sexting has found rates of use as wide as 15 per cent to acts may best focus on children who coerce the production 40 per cent among young people.123 Motivations for sexting of the material or who possess, use or distribute the matericover a broad spectrum ranging from naive expressions of al.127 In addition, any criminal justice response must be connewfound sexuality to coercion.124 According to one study, sidered as only one component of a wider social and 117 educational response that supports teachers, parents, indusIbid., 2013. 118 Quayle, E., et al. In Ainsaar, M., Lööf, L. (eds.). P. 14. try, and children to address often unequal and coercive sex119 A Thin Line, 2009. 2009 AP-MTV Digital Abuse Study. ual pressures, making them visible, available for discussion Executive Summary Available at http://www.athinline.org/ and open to resolution.128 MTV-AP_Digital_Abuse_Study_.pdf. Ringrose, J., Gill, R., Livingstone, S., Harvey, L., 2012. A Qualitative Study of Children, Young People and ‘Sexting’. A Study Prepared for the NSPCC. P. 6. Available at http://www.nspcc.org. uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/sexualabuse/sextingresearch-report_wdf89269.pdf. 121 Lenhart, A., 2009. Teens and Sexting: How and why minor teens are sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images via text messaging. Pew Research Centre Report. Available at http:// pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/teens-and-sexting.pdf. 122 See Leary, M., 2007. “Self-Produced Child Pornography: The Appropriate Societal Response to Juvenile Self-Sexual Exploitation”, Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 15:1-50; Leary, M. 2010. “Sexting or Self-Produced Child Pornography? The Dialogue Continues – Structured Prosecutorial Discretion within a Multidisciplinary Response”. Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 17:486-566. 123 Some of the variation is due to variations in definitions (see Ringrose, J., Gill, R., Livingstone, S., Harvey, L., 2012. P. 6.) 124 Leary, M., 2007. 120 Broadcasting of live sex abuse As high speed Internet access, including mobile Internet, proliferates and becomes increasingly affordable, perpetrators can stream the sexual abuse of children in online live shows, making it harder to detect if it has not been captured or saved on a computer or mobile device. Through the use of A Thin Line, 2009. IWF, 2012. Young people are warned they may lose control over their images and videos once they are uploaded online. Available at https://www.iwf.org.uk/about-iwf/news/ post/334-young-people-are-warned-they-may-lose-control-overtheir-images-and-videos-once-they-are-uploaded-online. 127 See in general Leary, M., 2007; Leary, M., 2010. 128 Ringrose, J., Gill, R., Livingstone, S., Harvey, L., 2012. P. 8. 125 126 22 STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ON THE ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN