Internet Industry, Charities and Government Back IWF Awareness Day
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) underlined the importance of its Awareness Day on 24 October with the release of new research* which indicates that over three quarters (77%) of UK adult internet users who have stumbled across images of children being sexually abused are unsure how to report them. In addition, 71% of those surveyed ranked the availability of online child sexual abuse images as their top concern about the internet.
So to help raise awareness of the IWF's national reporting service, major online brands including internet service providers, mobile operators, social networking sites, online gaming companies, moderators, registries, filtering companies and search engines as well as IWF partners, charities and government departments are joining forces to publicise the IWF 'Hotline' on 24 October. Supporting activities include running IWF advertising across websites, emailing staff and customers and featuring IWF information on homepages and intranets in order to reach out to millions of UK internet users.
Peter Robbins OBE, QPM, IWF Chief Executive, said: "The UK has a very proactive approach to tackling child sexual abuse content online but we could do even more with the public's help. That is why so many organisations are taking part in this campaign today to reach millions of people and raise awareness of our 'Hotline' service. Internet consumers should know that if they do stumble across these images then it's vital to report them to the IWF; we have international partnerships in place to get these websites removed. The IWF members and supporters who are united in their efforts to try to eradicate these terrible images on the internet deserve all our thanks."
99% of adult internet users in the UK agree that the internet is an overwhelmingly positive resource in everyday life and half of UK internet users are aware the UK has been successful in combating online child sexual abuse content. This UK approach sees the IWF working in partnership with the online sector and the police and has led to the near eradication of child sexual abuse content hosted in the UK. Initiatives like the voluntary blocking in the UK of child sexual abuse websites by online companies are helping to reduce inadvertent access to content hosted abroad, indeed, 2007 saw a 10% decrease in the number of websites confirmed by the IWF to depict child sexual abuse.
* Research of 1000 UK adult internet users was carried out during September and October 2008
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Notes
To promote parliamentary recognition of IWF’s work and Awareness Day, an Early Day Motion has been kindly tabled by two former DTI Ministers, from opposite sides of the House, Rt Hon Alun Michael MP and Ian Taylor MP. Confirming cross-party support for the IWF, initial signatories include Conservative MP Philip Dunne, Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and Labour MPs Andrew Miller and Margaret Moran, the Chairs of PITCOM and EURIM respectively. The EDM recognises the united efforts of industry and stakeholders to raise awareness about the IWF Hotline whilst helping to eradicate the content.
Additional facts and figures from the new IWF survey research of UK adult internet users
- 100% UK internet users believe that child sexual abuse content should be removed or blocked
- After completing the survey, 97% confirm they would now report child sexual abuse content to the IWF if they ever stumbled across it in the future
- 97% of internet users agreed the IWF¡¦s job is an important one
- Only 27% were aware that the UK online sector protects users by blocking access to known child sexual abuse websites
- 94% of internet users think unrestricted access to all content on the internet is important (in line with IWF¡¦s approach to URL-specific blocking)
About child sexual abuse content on the internet
- Less than 1% of child sexual abuse content reports are traced to UK hosts since 2003, down from 18% in 1997
- Over 95% of the UK population with residential broadband connections are now protected through blocking
- IWF processed 34,871 reports during 2007
- 10% of the children in images assessed by IWF appear to be under 2; 33% 3 ¡V 6; 80% under 10
- Half of all child sexual abuse websites known to IWF depict most brutal and severe levels of abuse
- IWF identified a core of 2755 child sexual abuse websites, hosted abroad, in 2007
- Reports to the IWF of potentially illegal online content can be submitted easily and anonymously
- Recent Ofcom research shows 67% UK adults have internet access
If you are accidentally exposed to or discover child sexual abuse content on the internet you should report it to the IWF at www.iwf.org.uk. The law protects your right to report that content to the relevant authorities such as the IWF or Police, however, anyone taking it upon themselves to seek out or investigate this kind of material where there is no legitimate duty to do so will be liable to prosecution.
Please note that "child pornography", "child porn" and "kiddie porn" are not acceptable terms. The use of such language acts to legitimise images which are not pornography, rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child sexual abuse images.
About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
- IWF industry membership has risen from 9 in 1999 to 86 in 2008
- IWF works closely with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre and other law enforcement agencies
- IWF is a member of INHOPE, the Association of Internet Hotlines, and is co-funded by the EU
IWF is the UK¡¦s internet ¡¥Hotline¡¦ for the public and IT professionals to report potentially illegal online content within our remit. We work in partnership with the online industry, law enforcement, government, the education sector, charities, international partners and the public to minimise the availability of this content, specifically, child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world and criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK.
We are an independent self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry, including internet service providers, mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, filtering companies, search providers, trade associations and the financial sector as well as other organisations that support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.
We help internet service providers and hosting companies to combat abuse of their networks through our national 'notice and take-down' service which alerts them to potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and we provide unique data to law enforcement partners in the UK and abroad to assist investigations into the distributers of potentially illegal online content. As sexually abusive images of children are primarily hosted abroad, we facilitate the industry-led initiative to protect users from inadvertent exposure to this content by blocking access to it through our provision of a dynamic list of child sexual abuse URLs.
We are an independent self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry, including internet service providers, mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, filtering companies, search providers, trade associations and the financial sector as well as other organisations that support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.
We help internet service providers and hosting companies to combat abuse of their networks through our national 'notice and take-down' service which alerts them to potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and we provide unique data to law enforcement partners in the UK and abroad to assist investigations into the distributers of potentially illegal online content. As sexually abusive images of children are primarily hosted abroad, we facilitate the industry-led initiative to protect users from inadvertent exposure to this content by blocking access to it through our provision of a dynamic list of child sexual abuse URLs.
Created: Thu, October 23rd, 2008 | Last Modified: Fri, December 12th, 2008
