Legal definitions
Panama has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as a person under 18 years old. In other Panamanian laws, a child is any person from conception to 14 years old, and an adolescent is a person from 14 to 18 years old. Both a child and an adolescent are considered “minors.” The age of consent for sexual activity is 14 years old, but children 14 to 17 years old cannot legally consent to “sexual access” with a person who holds a position of power or advantage over the minor.
Child sexual exploitation, child sexual abuse, and child pornography/CSAM are comprehensively defined in Panamanian laws. Sexually explicit conduct, computer generated images or videos of child pornography/CSAM, enticement/grooming, and sextortion are not specifically defined, but similar concepts exist in related laws.
Regulatory requirements/recommendations
Online platforms are not required to review, screen, moderate, detect, report, or remove—using either human moderators or any specific technology—online child sexual exploitation content.
Age verification requirements/recommendations
Online platforms are not required to implement any method of age verification before a user can access their services. However, a 2007 regulation prohibits minor users from accessing explicit websites and emails, without specifying how that access should be controlled.
Parental consent requirements/recommendations
Online platforms are not required to obtain parental consent before allowing a child to access their services. Notably, the “Panamanian State” asserts that it has primary responsibility for protecting minors online and shares that responsibility with families, among others.
Legal remedies for child victims
Panama generally lacks measures to proactively remove child pornography/CSAM or require online platforms to stop publication. Courts will not issue injunctions or other court orders to prevent the publication of child pornography/CSAM or prevent a person from re-publishing such content on the same or other platforms. However, a victim may seek “moral damages,” under the Civil Code, and child victims have access to some legal or support services. Victims are notified via court order when an offender is arrested, and some offenders are proactively arrested for the minor’s safety during legal proceedings.
"Safety by Design" requirements
Online platforms are not required to incorporate “Safety by Design” into their systems.