A sinister network
In 7 years, there were 2,200 cases, involving 9 cantons and countless countries worldwide. Offenders were sharing child pornography on the widely accessible internet platform GigaTribe, hiding behind pseudonyms such as ‘NinjaTurtle’.
In spring 2022, the seven-year joint operation between the Aargau Cantonal Police and fedpol to uncover the spread of child pornography on the GigaTribe platform (Operation NinjaTurtle) was concluded.
Back to the beginning.
In 2013 fedpol received the first clear indications that a person living in Aargau was distributing illegal pornographic material on the GigaTribe platform. GigaTribe promises uncomplicated, unlimited and anonymous file sharing on the internet: its slogan is ‘private and secure file sharing’. Sharing data: that sounds harmless (at first); and easy. But this was not harmless at all. Countless files and profiles involving child pornography were being uncovered worldwide. Who was behind the pseudonym NinjaTurtle? Little was known about the perpetrator, but it was clear where he came from: Aargau.
fedpol informed the Aargau cantonal police about its findings. A house was searched, and two laptops and external hard drives were seized; they contained around 12,000 photographs and 699 videos, 9 CDs and DVDs.
fedpol and the Aargau cantonal police worked closely together for months. This was the beginning of the end for NinjaTurtle. In 2014, he was arrested, and in 2016 he was convicted. But the police operation went on.
The police knew that NinjaTurtle was one among many. This explains why the profile remained online for a full seven years. During that time, first fedpol, then the Aargau cantonal police conducted undercover investigations on the GigaTribe platform.
The investigations led to the arrest of numerous other child sex offenders and the detection of 2,200 child pornography cases. Suspected offenders in Switzerland were reported to the local cantonal police, who took further steps. The results of the investigations also led to arrests in other countries, including Croatia, Brazil, France, Peru, Romania and Spain. Information on the offenders was communicated via Europol and INTERPOL. The offenders were not only people who viewed child pornography, but also people who abused children themselves.
The years of investigative work show that child sex offenders think they are safe behind their pseudonyms. They assume they are among like-minded people and expand their networks nationally and internationally, across all borders.
Everyone has a part to play. The cantonal police and fedpol, foreign and international police authorities, civil authorities, internet providers and website operators are all key players in their own right, while joining forces in the fight against child pornography.
Putting an end to the distribution of child pornography
Child pornography is not only distributed via peer-to-peer networks, but is also made available on ordinary websites. If the providers of the websites are located in Switzerland, fedpol has the authority under the Swiss Criminal Code to order the websites to be taken down. In the case of websites on foreign servers, fedpol can have the websites blocked by Swiss providers, using powers under the Telecommunications Act*. Every year, 4,800 websites are blocked, over 90 per cent of them for posting child pornography.
*Article 46a para. 2, 3 of the Telecommunications Act
Further article on the topic