Since taking up the position of Chair of IWF from 1 January 2024 I have been so impressed by the dedication of this growing organisation, the partnerships the team has built up, and the impact the IWF has. 

Over the next few months and years, IWF will be stepping up its offering to technology companies to ensure that they have what they need to meet the standards being set by regulation not just in the UK but in other countries too. We will work with our Members, and existing and new partners, to support companies who want to do the right thing to make sure that they not only meet regulatory requirements but continue to innovate in ways that make a real difference to the global problem as well. 

The contents of this report demonstrate the size and changing nature of the challenge that faces us all – we need everyone to play their part in tackling child abuse online. 

IWF has a long history of doing just that – and we will continue to deliver and develop the core services that children and young people, our law enforcement colleagues, and industry partners rely on. We will also work to make our data and the insights that come from it even more powerful in informing policy development. 

For anyone moved by what they read in this report, I ask this: Please consider supporting our work by working with us, donating funds to us, or joining us as a Member. We are stronger together.  

The Annual Report 2023 marks a watershed moment in IWF’s history. After many years in the making, the UK’s Online Safety Bill, which I’ve had the honour of helping to inform, has become an Act. This will likely see a seismic shift in how IWF needs to operate, and best serve the technology sector – vast portions of which will need to step up in order to meet the demands of this new regulation.  

Over my six years as Chair, I can reflect with pride on the tremendous work of our analysts, the growth in our services and datasets to support technology companies, and in the creation of new and ever-closer partnerships which make us more effective in our mission to eliminate online child sexual abuse.  

The data in this year’s report shows again that the more we look for child sexual abuse imagery online, the more we find. The presentation of this data year after year leaves a bitter taste: There’s so much abuse circulating online and we find more and more each year. The publication of this analysis, however, is just one piece of a global effort to better understand it, and better combat it in partnership.