Taskforce Conference Wraps in Belfast, ASACP Attends

LOS ANGELES —The EU and Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) Conference on Protecting Children Online took place in Belfast, Ireland last week. More than 200 representatives from law enforcement, government, industry and non-government organizations from around the world met to discuss efforts to combat child pornography.

Or, rather, combat “child abuse,” a term Jim Gamble, deputy director general of the National Crime Squad and chairman of the VGT, said should be used to describe pornographic images that feature children.

Using “pornography” to describe such images is confusing, Gamble said, and associates an industry that employs consenting adults with one that profits from “online child abuse activities.”

The VGT has no interest in consenting legal adult entertainment, Gamble added.

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, Microsoft, Visa International, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the ASACP were in attendance.

Joan Irvine, executive director for ASACP, said the conference provided a beneficial platform to show the adult industry’s support in the battle against child pornography.

“People were surprised but pleased that the adult entertainment was being proactive in [this] battle, protecting children and establishing best practices,” Irvine said.

While attending a pay-per-view workshop at the conference, Irvine said she was glad to discover that attendees knew who was primarily to blame for child pornography.

“It was good to hear that they know that most of the commercial child porn sites are run by organized crime, especially out of the former Soviet Bloc,” Irvine said.

Irvine said she even briefly spoke with Andrew Oosterbaan, chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section under Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez—clearly no friend of the adult industry of late.

“I introduced the ASACP to Mr. Oosterbann and let him know how the adult industry was working to combat child pornography,” Irvine told XBiz. “The conference was beneficial for ASACP. I [also] reconnected with other child porn reporting hotlines that I met at INHOPE.org meetings in the last few years and introduced ASACP to various international law enforcement agencies and companies.

Copyright © 2026 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Appeals Court Upholds Section 230 Immunity in XVideos Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has upheld a lower court’s ruling that Section 230 protects WebGroup Czech Republic from liability in a case involving user-uploaded CSAM on its tube sites.

JustFor.fans Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has ruled in favor of JustFor.fans in a case against a website using an infringing domain.

Aylo Moves to Settle Two 'Children of Pornhub' Class-Action Lawsuits

Aylo has agreed to terms for a settlement with the plaintiffs in two long-running class actions over allegations that former Pornhub parent company MindGeek knowingly allowed and profited from CSAM on its sites.

FSC Hails Members, Allies in SCREEN Act Victory

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) released a statement today praising its members and allies after a successful lobbying effort to prevent the SCREEN Act, a nationwide age verification bill, from advancing out of the Commerce Committee for a full vote on the Senate floor.

SCREEN Act Stalls in Senate Committee Over Technicality

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday voted to approve the SCREEN Act, which would mandate nationwide site-based age verification of users seeking to access adult content online, but a procedural issue blocked the bill from advancing to the full Senate.

SCREEN Act Back in Play: Federal AV Bill Faces Senate Hearing

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has slated a markup session this week for the SCREEN Act, which would mandate site-based age verification of users accessing adult content online on a national level.

Arcom Targets 31 Adult Sites Over Age Verification

French media regulator Arcom on Wednesday announced that it is taking action against 31 adult websites that the agency says have failed to implement age verification as required under France’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law.

New 'PROTECT Act' Would Make North Carolina Rules for Adult Sites Federal Law

Senator Mike Lee of Utah on Thursday introduced legislation that would impose strict new federal rules on adult sites and platforms, strongly echoing similar regulations imposed last year in North Carolina.

Dutch Police Raid Servers Hosting 'Motherless' Website

A Dutch National Police Corps cybercrime team on Tuesday conducted raids on hosting companies in three cities, seizing servers owned or used by controversial adult website Motherless, as part of an investigation into possible illegal content.

Show More