Moscow, March 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia is the second largest producer of internet child pornography in the world after the US, a children rights official said here Monday.

'We need to combat the wave of crime that is polluting our cyberspace on the internet today. We need to use advanced technology and international cooperation,' said Pavel Astakhov, Russia's ombudsman for children's rights.

'Unfortunately, we are lagging behind the criminals who are constantly devising new ways of doing things. Modern internet technology allows you to change the web address you send such material from every 15 minutes.'

Astakhov called on the Russian government to join forces with other countries to set up a viable scheme to stem the spread of pornographic material on the internet.

There is a lack of cooperation between the state, social structures, and the people, who could be 'indispensable' partners in reporting about illegal internet contents, he said and called for tougher cyber laws to tackle such crimes in the country.

According to Britain-based Internet Watch Foundation, the US and Russia host the majority of the world's child abuse websites.

Around 5,000 websites were closed down in Russia in 2009 during a massive crackdown against internet pornography.