The project, which was briefly outlined by justice minister Sam Tanson responding to a parliamentary question on 27 August, has been on hold because of a lack of staff, Tanson wrote.

The dark net is part of the deep web, a network of websites that exist on an encrypted network. Its sites and tools can be used to carry out different criminal activities. In March, Luxembourg’s State digital defence agency, Incert, located data on 188,000 Luxembourg residents for sale on the darknet.  

According to Tanson, based on reports from not-for-profits and police, paedo-pornography is a “real scourge”. “On the one hand, awareness raising campaigns is one way of stopping the spread of this material, on the other, suppression certainly has a dissuasive effect. Proactive work with Europol and Interpol can positively impact the fight against paedo-pornographic films,” Tanson wrote.