Dark Web Teen Porn Network Targeted by FBI

Authorities across the world have arrested hundreds of people connected with one of the world’s largest networks dedicated to profiting from child sexual exploitation images and videos, Welcome To Video website was one such darknet network which allowed users to download horrific child sexual abuse images and exchange them through chat forums. Furthermore, Welcome To Video was among the first sites that accepted bitcoin, a digital currency which allows people to remain anonymous during financial transactions.

Agents employed in March to hack into this website were successful in breaking its encryption and closing it, according to officials, saving 23 minors from sexual exploitation while helping many more access help services. According to authorities, it had over three million unique visitors each week and was one of the most active child pornography websites online.

Investigators believe the site in question was a “virtual community”, enabled by encryption tools which made it hard for law enforcement agencies to locate it and cease its activities. Working in tandem with partners from across America, Britain and South Korea they managed to take down the network.

Though successful, some defense attorneys claim the FBI tactics breach constitutional protections against unlawful searches and seizures. A lawyer representing a school administrator in southern Washington stated traffic to a website depicting children rose dramatically after the raid re-victimizing those depicted and making them more susceptible to malicious actors who seek to incite shame, extract money or live out personal fantasies on these children depicted on these websites.