The Internet offers diverse opportunities in the creation and distribution of pornography. Beyond this, the increasing numbers of young people using the Internet has transformed cyberspace into a paedophile hunting ground. Chat rooms provide a forum for interactive conversations. This environment creates a forum for paedophiles to communicate, meet other paedophiles and prey on children. Some paedophiles portray themselves as young people while online to encourage more intimate conversations with children.
Victims become commodities to be shared internationally.
Morphing, a method of fusing pictures to create a new image, is increasingly popular with paedophiles. To date, there is no technology to detect morphing in electronic photographs. One operation, coordinated by the National Crime Squad in the United Kingdom, and involving 12 countries including Canada, investigated an international child pornography ring resulting in the arrest of more than 40 people in the fall of 1998. Investigations are ongoing. No Canadian citizens have been arrested to date.