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Child pornography or child porn refers to pornographic material depicting children. It is widely accepted as a form of child sexual abuse^[1] and as such these images and videos are illegal in most countries. Legal jurisdictions outlaw production, distribution, possession, and accessing child pornography^[2]. Prohibition generally covers visual representations of sexual activity by children under a given age but may also include all images of nude children, unless an artistic or medical justification can be provided.

Child pornography is defined in the United States as the visual depiction of a person under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2256(1) and (8). This means that any image of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct is illegal contraband. Notably, the legal definition of sexually explicit conduct does not require that an image depict a child engaging in sexual activity. See 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2). A picture of a naked child may constitute illegal child pornography if it is sufficiently sexually suggestive. In addition, for purposes of the child pornography statutes, federal law considers a person under the age of 18 to be a child. See 18 U.S.C. § 2256(1). A visual depiction for purposes of the federal child pornography laws includes a photograph or videotape, including undeveloped film or videotape, as well as data stored electronically which can be converted into a visual image. For example, images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct stored on a computer disk are considered visual depictions. ~ United States Department of Justice

Where child pornography involves depictions of children engaging in sexual conduct, the production of this material will in itself be legally prohibited as child sexual abuse in most countries. The profit that can be generated from selling such images is seen as a factor in encouraging the original abuse that is photographed or filmed.^[3]

Substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in the US declined dramatically in number between 1992 and 1998.^[4] The children's charity NCH has claimed that demand for child pornography on the Internet has led to an increase in sex abuse cases.^[5]

Whether or not artificially created erotic or pornographic material (e.g., lolicon, some pornographic dōjinshi, etc.) constitutes "child pornography" remains debatable, as no actual children are harmed during the production.

On September 15, 2007, the Children and Youth Secretariat of the Anti-Child Pornography Alliance (ACPA-Pilipinas) in the Philippines launched Batingaw Network to protect and save children from all abuses and exploitations. It is the largest anti-child pornography movement in the Philippines to date. It declared September 28 as the "National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography. The first successful prosecution executed by the ACPA was against American pedophile Brad Jackson in October 2007. ^[6]

• Child modeling (erotic)
• Lolita pornography
• Teen pornography
• Indecent pseudo-photograph of a child
• Nudity and children
• Pedophilia
• Child sexual abuse
• Lolicon