随着互联网的发展，网络儿童色情在国际和国内各种平台上传播泛滥。但是从国际比较的视角来看，中国对儿童色情的刑法依据和理论研究较为不足。为了更好地保护未成年人，美国从20世纪70年代就开始重视对儿童色情的刑法规制，逐渐区分“儿童色情”与“淫秽”、禁止持有儿童色情材料和禁止虚拟儿童色情内容等。为了更好地与国际趋势接轨，全面保护未成年人，中国应当全面了解国际上不同国家包括美国规制儿童色情的做法，并结合当下互联网国际发展趋势和中国国情，从刑法上对儿童色情进行专门界定以区分儿童色情和淫秽，将儿童色情的相关行为入罪，禁止网络虚拟儿童色情，加大对儿童色情的刑事处罚力度。
With the development of the Internet，the spread of child pornography in China is rampant. However，from the perspective of international comparison，the criminal basis and theoretical research on child pornography in China are seriously insufficient. To better protect minors，the United States began to attach importance to the criminal regulation of child pornography in the 1970s，gradually distinguishing “child pornography” from “obscenity，” prohibiting the possession of child pornography materials and banning virtual child pornography. To follow the international trend and protect minors，China can draw lessons from regulating child pornography in the U.S.，combined with the current network environment and China’s national conditions. Such as from the perspective of criminal law specifically defined child pornography to distinguish between child pornography and obscenity，child pornography-related behavior into sin，ban virtual child pornography on the Internet and increase criminal penalties for child pornography.
