A distinction without a difference.

Even if some kid makes a video of themselves jerking off for their own personal enjoyment, unprompted by anyone else, if someone else gains access to that (eg a technician at a store or an unprincipled guardian) and makes a copy for themselves they're criminally exploiting the kid by doing so.

▲

guerrilla 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Seems like a pretty big difference. It's got to be worse to actually do something to somone in real life than not do that.

▲

anigbrowl 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Just because there are different degrees of severity and different ways to offend doesn't make it not contraband.

	▲	guerrilla 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I didn't argue they weren't. The person above me argued that the difference didn't matter. It does.

▲

lysp 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not really, otherwise perpetrators will just "I was just looking at it, I didn't do anything as bad as creating it". Their act is still illegal.

There was a cartoon picture I remember seeing around 15+ years ago of Bart Simpson performing a sex act. In some jurisdictions (such as Australia), this falls under the legal definition.

	▲	guerrilla 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> Not really, otherwise perpetrators You don't think it's worse to molest a child than to not molest a child?

▲

chrisjj 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> A distinction without a difference.

Huge difference here in Europe. CSAM is a much more serious crime. That's why e.g. Interpol runs a global database of CSAM but doesn't bother for mere child porn.