[Back to Operation Pacifier / Playpen](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-pacifier-playpen)

# Organizations and roles

February 2015, Child sexual abuse material
[Operation Pacifier / Playpen](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-pacifier-playpen)

Last reviewed August 21, 2026

The public record puts 1 organization on this action. Operational lead: FBI. The table lists the role the cited record assigns each one, in the record's own wording where it gives any.

## Why this page names organizations only

Roles on this page describe the agencies that took part. Individuals named in the public record appear on the takedown entry itself, under People and accountability.

## Organizations and roles

| Emblem | Organization | Role | What the record says |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation), United States | Operational lead | Seized and covertly operated the site; developed and deployed the NIT. |

## Accountability

### Legal authority

Federal search warrant (E.D. Va.) authorizing an NIT; subsequent criminal prosecutions nationwide.

This page records organizational involvement as the cited sources state it. Where a role carries no description, the record gives none.

Last reviewed August 21, 2026