The National Crime Agency (NCA) has revealed it believes there are a minimum 300,000 individuals in the UK posing a sexual threat to children, either through physical “contact” abuse or online.
.au Domain Administration Limited became an IWF Member on 1 July 2021. They support us in our aim to eliminate online child sexual abuse.
Sextortion is a form of blackmail in which a child is tricked into sending sexual images of themselves to abusers, who then threaten to share the pictures with friends, family or more widely on the internet if they are not paid money.
“We can not allow Europe to be a safe haven for these criminals who would exploit the worst abuse of vulnerable, innocent children. We are pleased to see some action is being taken"
The aim is for the new chatbot to 'target' users before they actually commit a criminal offence.
Speaking at the state opening of Parliament, the Queen said the UK will lead the way in making sure the internet is safe for all.
"Law enforcement cannot arrest its way out of this problem."
Predators are often early adopters of technology,” says Sarah Smith, chief technology officer at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK child abuse hotline. “It’s an arms race, we have to be constantly horizon-scanning.”
The Internet Watch Foundation has heralded a “pivotal moment” in online safety as new laws to help make the internet safer for children are adopted in the UK.