Protecting Children Online: A Call to Action

We are dedicated to ending the spread of child sexual abuse imagery online. For nearly 30 years, since the early days of the internet, our job has been to help child victims of sexual abuse by hunting down and removing any online record of the abuse.

Amid emerging trends, such as child sexual abuse material generated by AI, it is critical that making the internet safer for children is a top priority for the new parliament.

In 2023 alone, the IWF removed over one million web pages featuring child sexual abuse images and videos. Heartbreakingly, 92% of the material we identified involved “self-generated” content, with a growing number of these victims being just three to six years old.

We are calling on Parliament to take decisive action to stay One Step Ahead in the fight against child sexual abuse online. We believe the Government must prioritise the following actions over the next parliamentary term:

1. Prevent the spread of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery.
2. Implement robust age verification to protect children.
3. Ensure abusers have no hiding place in encrypted communications.
4. Mandate the reporting of suspected child sexual abuse.
5. Stop illegal content before it reaches the internet.

For more information or to get involved, please contact our Public Affairs & Policy Officer, Bobbie Dennis, at [email protected] or by calling 07496 580902.