On Safer Internet Day 2026, the IWF and child protection partners worldwide unite to call for a global ban on AI nudify apps and tools.
The so-called social media ban is a revolutionary step, but is this a revolutionary moment for child safety?
The UK Alliance Tackling Online CSEA (UK ATOC), made up of the IWF, NSPCC, Save the Children, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, the UK Safer Internet Centre, Childnet, the Marie Collins Foundation, SWGfL and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, has responded to the UK Government's announcement of a social media ban for under-16s. While the alliance welcomes the Government's recognition that a ban alone cannot tackle the full scale of online harm to children, it sets out why lasting protection depends on a wider, system-wide approach, including stronger safeguards for encrypted environments, safety-by-design requirements for online services, and a strengthened Online Safety Act. The response includes a detailed table mapping how different interventions, from the social media ban to nudity detection and CSAM blocking technologies, contribute to tackling specific online harms such as grooming, sexual extortion and image-based abuse.
Explore IWF's 2024 analysis of where child sexual abuse imagery is hosted globally, highlighting key hosting countries and trends.
Explore IWF's 2024 analysis of unique domains hosting child sexual abuse imagery, highlighting global distribution and hosting trends.