NORMS
What do we do when we receive a report concerning trafficking and/or child pornography?
Through our legal department we point the reporting person to the most appropriate official channel for the report to take effect (for example, filing it on the dedicated website of the Italian Postal and Communications Police).
If the reporting person is unable to file the report on their own, Protection4Kids provides support — online, by telephone or in person — to direct them to the right official channel and, should they request it, to draw up a formal report against the perpetrator.
What if the reporting person wants to report while remaining anonymous?
Protection4Kids acts as an intermediary: we take on the person’s request and activate our internal legal department to draw up a formal report, which is then submitted to the competent authorities.
One clarification is needed, so that it is clear to the applicant from the outset:
- For offences prosecutable ex officio (for example Art. 600-ter of the Italian Criminal Code – child pornography) the report may be filed directly by Protection4Kids under Art. 333 of the Criminal Code – Reports by private individuals – whereby any person aware of an offence prosecutable ex officio may report it. To do so, the report must set out the essential elements of the act and, as far as possible, the date on which the information was obtained, any sources of evidence and the identity of the alleged perpetrator.
- For offences prosecutable upon complaint (e.g. Art. 612-ter of the Criminal Code – unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit images or videos, known as revenge porn – and Art. 609-bis, sexual violence) a formal complaint is required, by which the injured party personally states (or, if under 14, through a parent pursuant to Art. 120, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code) their wish that proceedings be brought for an act defined by law as an offence.
What do we do when we receive a report concerning cyberbullying or revenge porn?
In practical terms we work through ReputationUp (our founding company), which by virtue of its corporate purpose is fully entitled to carry out the removal of harmful images, videos and links, in order to protect and give effect to the rights recognised by the Italian Privacy Code as well as the “right to be forgotten”.
This is done through a free agreement between the applicant (a minor represented by a parent) and ReputationUp, which acts promptly — in accordance with the Italian Privacy Code, Legislative Decree 196/2003 as amended by the GDPR implementing Legislative Decree 101/2018 — to remove the harmful content, giving effect to the minor’s right to be forgotten.
From a legal standpoint, Protection4Kids activates its internal legal department to support the injured party towards full access to justice. A clarification is needed, given the different nature that offences committed online may take:
- Where revenge porn has been committed, the offence is prosecuted upon complaint by the injured party, who must file it within a strict six-month deadline — except in the cases set out in that paragraph of Art. 612-ter of the Italian Criminal Code (where the offence is committed against a person in a condition of physical or mental inferiority, or against a pregnant woman), in which prosecution ex officio remains possible. Only in these last two cases may Protection4Kids therefore file a report directly with the authorities, should the person wish to remain anonymous.
- Where cyberbullying has been committed (Art. 612-bis stalking, Art. 595 defamation, Art. 612 threat of the Criminal Code; and Art. 167 unlawful processing of personal data of the Privacy Code), Art. 2 of Law no. 71 of 29 May 2017 allows any minor over the age of fourteen, as well as any parent or person exercising parental responsibility, to submit a request for the obscuring, removal or blocking of any personal data of the minor circulating online. If within the following twenty-four hours the party responsible has not confirmed having taken charge of the requested obscuring, removal or blocking, and has not carried it out within forty-eight hours, the person concerned may submit the same request to the Italian Data Protection Authority. Protection4Kids can assist the minor, with parental consent, in preparing the request to the website operator for the removal of the minor’s data and, in the event of non-compliance, in turning to the Data Protection Authority. Faced with such conduct, but only for offences prosecutable ex officio, Protection4Kids may file a report should the minor wish to remain anonymous (therefore only in cases of stalking); in the other cases mentioned above, a formal complaint by the applicant is required.