'Alarming' rise in child porn says privacy watchdog

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 2 - There has been an "alarming" rise in child pornography in Italy over the last year, Privacy Watchdog Pasquale Stanzione said in his annual report Friday.
    Child-porn cases rose by around 132% in 2020 over 2019, he said, while there was a 77% rise in cases of victimization of minors for grooming purposes, cyber-bullying, digital identity theft and sextorsion, he said.
    Some 68% of teens were witness to cyber-bullying cases last year, Stanzione said.
    "These are alarming data that must demand a collective assumption of responsibility concerning subjects such as minors whose vulnerability may make them the chosen victims of web distortions," he said.
    Stanzione said cyber crimes against the young had risen during the COVID pandemic. (ANSA).