Huw Edwards’ offences highlight how WhatsApp can be abused by predators sharing criminal imagery of children, IWF warns

Published:  Fri 20 Sep 2024

Dan Sexton, Chief Technology Officer at the IWF, appeared on national BBC Breakfast television this week (September 17) to warn Meta is not taking adequate steps to proactively prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material on the platform.

It came as disgraced BBC news presenter Huw Edwards was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years after he admitted receiving some of the most extreme (Category A) child sexual abuse imagery from a convicted paedophile via WhatsApp.

Mr Sexton said: “What are they doing to make their platform safe and prevent this from happening to other children in the future?”.

Watch the BBC video clip here: 

Clip provided by BBC.

Smart Axiata partnership will protect millions from exposure to child sexual abuse images and videos

Smart Axiata partnership will protect millions from exposure to child sexual abuse images and videos

One of the largest telecoms providers in Cambodia is now a partner in our mission to defend children online and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet.

17 July 2025 News
Full feature-length AI films of child sexual abuse will be ‘inevitable’ as synthetic videos make ‘huge leaps’ in sophistication in a year

Full feature-length AI films of child sexual abuse will be ‘inevitable’ as synthetic videos make ‘huge leaps’ in sophistication in a year

New data reveals AI child sexual abuse continues to spread online as criminals create more realistic, and more extreme, imagery.

11 July 2025 News
IWF urges for ‘loophole’ to be closed in proposed EU laws criminalising AI child sexual abuse as synthetic videos make ‘huge leaps’ in sophistication

IWF urges for ‘loophole’ to be closed in proposed EU laws criminalising AI child sexual abuse as synthetic videos make ‘huge leaps’ in sophistication

New data reveals AI child sexual abuse continues to spread online as criminals create more realistic, and more extreme, imagery.

11 July 2025 News