[danbruc]

I would guess that there are, to a first approximation, two groups of people - those consuming child pornography and those producing it. The consumers are probably the much larger group and to a certain extend one could maybe even call them harmless, at least ignoring the risk that they will go further in the future and that they are driving the demand. I don't know if this is actually true, but in the discussion of prostitution you regularly come across the argument that it is a way to satisfy a desire that might otherwise be satisfied through rape or other sexual abuse. In the same way consuming child pornography might prevent a certain group of people from themselves abusing children directly. When it comes to the producers, things might be much more bleak. They are the subgroup you really want to go after. Some of them might even do this just for the money without themselves being interested in children.

[anigbrowl]

There are two such groups, but the overlap is significant. A lot of CP is acquired by trade rather than sale. I don't think there's much evidence either way for the proposition that consumption prevents further harm.

Anyway, my point was that some of the most strident condemnation is actually performative & deceptive.

Another example literally just popped up in my news feed: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/library-va...