Child pornography unfortunately does exist in the world, and due to the internet it has become a very prevalent aspect of the world. Watching child pornography is definitely a very heinous act indeed and it is illegal, punishable to the fullest extent of the law. However, a lot of people don’t really know what constitutes child pornography in the first place. They assume that it is the sort of thing that you have to go out and get, an actual video or something similar that would depict a child in a compromising position. However, there are a lot of different ways in which child pornography can exist in the world. One of the most important things to realize is that pretty much any kind of media that has a visual depiction of a child in it in any stage of undress whatsoever can be considered pornography.
The one thing that does matter in situations like this is how this media is being disseminated. If you have a picture of a minor in your phone and the minor is in a state of undress, then you have child pornography on your person. There are a few exemptions of course. Doctors can have such pictures for medical purposes and judges can have them along with lawyers if they are evidence in a case. However, even these things are regulated very strictly indeed in order to prevent people in these positions of power from using said powers to possess or distribute pornography featuring children in any way, shape or form.
A big part of the reason why any picture that contains a minor in it who is undressed can be considered child pornography is so that these laws can act as a deterrent against people that are preying on children. A big part of preying on children involves slowly gaining their trust. A pedophile is not immediately going to try and have sex with a child. Rather, it is going to attempt to make themselves increasingly important in the child’s life. This has become increasingly easier because of the fact that the internet makes communication so easy and not to mention anonymous. After initial contact has been made, frequent conversations end up following, and slowly but surely the predator is going to attempt to slip sexual comments here and there into the conversations that are being had with the minor in question that is being preyed on at that point in time.
A predator is going to attempt to get pictures of the minor by asking said minor to take these pictures. In order to deter such behavior, possessing such photos is referred to as possession of child pornography, and this has been quite effective at preventing predators from attempting to acquire such pictures. Even in situations where it has not worked as a preventative measure, it has definitely worked as the sort of thing that has helped get these predators much tougher jail sentences than they would have gotten otherwise.