Under 10s groomed online ‘like never before’ as hotline discovers record amount of child sexual abuse

Against the worsening backdrop, the IWF warns moves like Meta’s decision to prevent the blocking of child sexual abuse imagery on Facebook’s Messenger service are ‘utterly incomprehensible’.

• IWF removed a record-breaking amount of child sexual abuse imagery in 2023.
• Under tens increasingly targeted by groomers, with a growing number of younger children being coerced into performing sexually online.
• UK Security Minister says all tech companies must do more to prevent the spread of abuse, but decisions like those of Meta will ‘provide a safe space for heinous predators’.

A “shocking” number of under 10s are being manipulated into performing sexual acts online, as experts discover more child sexual abuse imagery online than ever before.

New data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) today (January 17) shows a dramatic rise in the number of webpages on the open internet showing children under 10 being groomed, manipulated, or coerced into performing sexually by a predator.

The Government said the findings are “alarming” and warned that the planned roll out of end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger will have a “catastrophic” effect on law enforcement’s ability to bring perpetrators to justice.

The IWF has found there is now more child sexual abuse imagery being discovered on the open internet than ever before – with almost every webpage (92%) it worked to remove in 2023 including “self-generated” material extorted from children who have been groomed or coerced by predators using webcams.

Of the sites containing “self-generated” imagery, more than one in five (21%, or 54,250 webpages) contain the most severe abuse (known as Category A). This can include penetration, bestiality, and sexual torture.

Younger children are also at more risk of grooming and abuse, with the data showing a dramatic rise in the number of images or videos featuring under 10s where they have been coerced into performing sexually via a webcam or handheld device.

Against this backdrop, the IWF says all tech companies must play their part in making the internet hostile to groomers and abusers, and warns it is “utterly incomprehensible” that Meta is choosing to introduce end-to-end encryption to Facebook’s Messenger service.

This move will disable its existing measures for detecting and preventing the spread of child sexual abuse and make children less safe at a time when more should be done to improve safety.

Today’s data shows:

• In 2023, the IWF investigated a record 392,660 reports of suspected child sexual abuse imagery. This is 5% more than were assessed in 2022 (375,230).
• Of these, a record 275,655 webpages were confirmed to contain child sexual abuse – an 8% rise on the 255,570 detected the year before. Each webpage can contain hundreds, or even thousands, of images or videos of child sexual abuse.
• In 2023, 92% (254,070) of all webpages the IWF took action to remove from the internet contained “self-generated” images or videos where a child is coerced, blackmailed, tricked, or groomed into performing sexually via a webcam. This material is now being shared widely by criminals on dedicated child sexual abuse sites and forums.
• Of the sites containing “self-generated” imagery, more than one in five (21%, or 54,250 webpages) contain the most severe abuse (known as Category A). This can include penetration, bestiality, and sexual torture.
• Imagery of under 10s feature in 107,615 of these webpages containing “self-generated” imagery. This is a 66% increase on the 64,735 URLs including this material seen in 2022.

In December, Meta announced it intends to roll out end-to-end encryption on its platforms, beginning with Facebook Messenger*.

The IWF, which is the UK’s front line against child sexual abuse imagery online, says that with more child sexual abuse being discovered online than ever before, companies must be proactive in detecting it and helping to be part of the solution.

According to US hotline NCMEC (National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children), Meta reported more than 20 million incidents of people sharing child sexual abuse imagery on Facebook Messenger in 2022**.  

End-to-end encryption will mean Meta’s current apparatus for detecting known child sexual abuse imagery will be rendered useless and the company will be unable to spot criminal material being spread through its channels.

The IWF says introducing this technology without first putting in place a solution to prevent the abuse of its service will provide a safe space for criminals to spread abuse imagery with impunity.

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the IWF, said: “The imagery extorted or coerced from primary school-aged children is now finding its way onto the most extreme, dedicated child sexual abuse sites in shocking numbers.

“What starts in a child’s bedroom, over a webcam, is shared, traded, and harvested by committed and determined sexual predators. The IWF is seeing the results in unprecedented numbers. These criminals are ruthless.

“Now, with so many organisations looking to do the right thing in the light of new regulations in the UK, it is incomprehensible that Meta is deciding to look the other way and offer criminals a free pass to further share and spread abuse imagery in private and undetected.

“Decisions like this, as well as Apple opting to drop plans for client-side scanning to detect the sharing of abuse, are baffling given the context of the spread of this imagery on the wider web.

“Children are falling victim like never before. There really has never been a worse time to be a child on the internet, and Meta’s decision to bring in end-to-end encryption appears to be wilfully making this worse, not better, ignoring the evidence, and rewarding criminals with safe spaces at children’s expense.”

Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat said: “This alarming report clearly shows that online child sexual abuse is on the rise, and the victims are only getting younger. And yet, despite warnings from across government, charities, law enforcement and our international partners, Meta have taken the extraordinary decision to turn their backs on these victims, and provide a ‘safe space’ for heinous predators.

“The decision to roll out end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger without the necessary safety features, will have a catastrophic impact on law enforcement’s ability to bring perpetrators to justice.

“It isn’t too late to work with us to keep children safe online. As Meta begins to implement default end-to-end encryption in the UK, they can and must ensure that robust safeguards are implemented at a time when children are at a greater risk online than ever before.”

Ian Critchley QPM, NPCC National Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation said: “Online spaces continue to provide predators with the opportunity to initiate contact with children that can often lead to grooming , manipulation, extortion for both financial gain and extorting indecent images and also to facilitate appalling acts of contact abuse. As outlined last week in the Police Recorded Crime analysis, we are seeing the huge harm being caused every single day to young people across the country harm which has a lifelong impact.

“Our focus working with the NCA, valued partners and policing colleagues is to identify and bring to justice those committing these abhorrent offences. But it is also essential that we educate young people around harmful sexual behaviours to prevent child abuse and that is the role of us all including parents , carers, and education establishments.

“Whole scale use of smart devices by teenagers and now under 10s, gives them increased access to harmful material including violent pornography and indecent images of children, as well as ease of access to offenders who seek to connect with them including in the virtual reality space, often portraying as other young people. Thank you to the IWF who undertake this crucial work and help keep thousands of children safe and identify offenders across the UK and globally.

“This is also why the Online Safety Act is so crucial - it is the most important piece of legislation for a whole generation of young people. It must provide the strongest protections for children and should ensure social media and tech companies are held to account for the appalling scale of child sexual abuse occurring on their platforms.”