On 3 April, essential child protection systems used by technology companies to detect and remove online child sexual abuse material will become illegal to operate in the EU unless the European Parliament votes to extend the current legal framework. A temporary law allowing voluntary detection is expiring, and political deadlock has stalled a permanent solution. This will create a dangerous legal vacuum that perpetrators are aware of and poised to exploit. Proven tools like hash‑matching - which do not compromise privacy - would be forced offline, enabling millions of known abusive images to resurface. Research shows these systems deter offenders and make access harder; disabling them will reverse this progress. MEPs have one final chance to act by voting for an amendment that preserves protections for children across Europe.
Information from IWF on how we handle the privacy of stakeholder data and information.
It is IWF policy to make every effort to protect our information assets from threats – whether they be internal or external, deliberate or accidental.
IWF CEO Kerry Smith welcomes TikTok’s decision to prioritise child protection over end‑to‑end encryption.
The Age Appropriate Design Code sets out 15 standards that online services need to follow.
Tamsin McNally, Hotline Manager at the IWF, appeared live on National BBC Breakfast news to warn about the increasing prevalence of “sextortion” online.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is delighted to celebrate a decade of partnership with NetSupport
IWF Chief Executive Susie Hargreaves OBE and Hotline Director Chris Hughes have respectively won awards for inspirational leadership, and for operational impact.