Government tasks police with blocking digital brothels

Since 2020, the children’s rights organization ChildX, together with Realstars, has been working to stop so-called digital brothels—websites that enable and normalize the sexual exploitation of children and young people online. The government has now tasked the police with blocking all digital brothels.

Following extensive advocacy efforts and over 22,000 signatures, the Swedish Parliament decided to urge the government to take action against platforms that enable sexual abuse of children. The government has now tasked the Swedish Police Authority with strengthening efforts against online sexual abuse of children, including through more effective blocking of digital brothels, such as so-called sugar dating websites.

However, for these measures to be fully effective, internet service providers must subscribe to the blocking list.

“We welcome the government’s decision to give the police a clear mandate. It is important that these issues are prioritized and that the work to shut down digital brothels receives sufficient resources. We will now monitor how the mandate is implemented and ensure it is coordinated with other authorities to hold platforms accountable,” says Ida Östensson, Secretary General of ChildX.

ChildX and Realstars are now urging the public to take the final step and demand that all internet service providers block these websites, and have launched a petition.

The organizations will continue to monitor developments and work toward a safer internet for children and young people.