Published: Tue 15 May 2018
Professor Tink Palmer MBE, CEO of The Marie Collins Foundation (MCF) said:
“The IWF's study into live-streaming of child sexual abuse imagery is disturbing to read. It’s particularly alarming as the children abused in this way appear to be getting younger. We work with the victims of child sexual abuse and regularly hear of the devastation that being subjected to abusive imagery has on their lives. All too often, young victims carry a heavy burden of shame and feel that others will judge them, rather than realise that the responsibility for the abuse and its recording lies solely with the perpetrator.
“This research indicates that offenders may be going to greater lengths to abuse children. That’s why I believe the work the IWF is doing, to look for emerging trends in their data and eliminate images of child sexual abuse online is so vital. Every time an abusive image is viewed it means that the victim in the image is re-abused. No victim should have to suffer in this way.”
New EU legislation closes critical gaps to criminalise AI-generated abuse material and strengthen survivor protections.
The legal protections that allow companies in the EU to voluntarily detect, find, and remove child sexual abuse material on their platforms are about to expire, as legislative negotiations grind to a halt.
While providing legal certainty is desirable, the IWF says voluntary detection alone is not enough to meet the scale of the child sexual abuse crisis online.