The net is closing on child sexual abuse images

Published:  Thu 8 Jul 2021

Written by:  WIRED

Each day, a team of analysts faces a seemingly endless mountain of horrors. The team of 21, who work at the Internet Watch Foundation’s office in Cambridgeshire, spend hours trawling through images and videos containing child sexual abuse. And, each time they find a photo or piece of footage it needs to be assessed and labelled. Last year alone the team identified 153,383 webpages with links to child sexual abuse imagery. This creates a vast database of abuse which can then be shared internationally in an attempt to stem the flow of abuse. The problem? Different countries have different ways of categorising images and videos.

Read more at WIRED

UK parents warned over posting images of children amid AI sexual abuse fears

UK parents warned over posting images of children amid AI sexual abuse fears

National Crime Agency and safety watchdog issue guidance amid rise in explicit material online.

3 July 2026 IWF In The News
The devastating impact of sextortion scams targeting teenagers

The devastating impact of sextortion scams targeting teenagers

Gethin and Nikki discuss the devastating impact of sextortion scams targeting teenagers.

17 June 2026 IWF In The News
UK schools should remove pupils’ online photos as AI blackmail threat grows, say experts

UK schools should remove pupils’ online photos as AI blackmail threat grows, say experts

Criminals are manipulating pictures found on school websites and social media to create sexually explicit images.

8 May 2026 IWF In The News