Internet Watch Foundation

 

The IWF was founded by the internet industry in 1996 and works in partnership with the police, Government, the wider online industry and the public to combat the availability of potentially criminal online content within its remit. As a result of this self-regulatory approach, less than 1% of online child sexual abuse content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.

 

All our industry members help to fund our work, support our aims and have adopted the principles set out in the IWF Code of Practice. We work together to ensure UK networks provide the most hostile environment for hosting child sexual abuse images and to protect UK internet users from inadvertent exposure to such content.

 

Through the Hotline reporting system, the IWF helps the online industry combat abuse of their services via a ‘notice and take-down’ initiative which alerts them to any potentially illegal content on their systems and enables the police to investigate the publisher. This partnership approach is recognised internationally and the IWF is committed to sharing its best practice, expertise and experience around the world, contributing to dialogue beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

 

We are grateful to all our members for their continued funding and support of our work.

 

From here you can access: