Italian police have broken up a pedophile network spanning at least 28 countries that used social media websites to swap pornographic images and videos of child abuse.
Ten people have been arrested in Italy, the United States, France and Portugal, and another 112 are being investigated on suspicion of child pornography, Italy's computer crime police bureau NIT said in a statement.
Police carried out raids in several countries on Thursday morning in "Operation Nanny" to dismantle what NIT called "an extensive international community of pedophiles".
Investigators froze computer data in U.S. social network servers and took down several online communities that served to recruit new members and pool illegal material.
The data revealed an Italian-founded criminal group with more than 700 followers around the world, exchanging thousands of images and videos, NIT said.
Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Robert Woodward
