New Internet Watch Foundation data reveals a sharp rise in commercial child sexual abuse websites, with criminal gangs monetising children’s exploitation through subscription models and digital payments. The charity warns of systemic failures across online platforms, financial services and encrypted technologies that allow abuse to flourish. As reports of sexual extortion surge, particularly targeting boys, the IWF calls for stronger regulation of payment systems, encryption safeguards and decisive government action to disrupt the online economy of child sexual exploitation.
IWF warns full effects of lockdown are only now becoming apparent as younger children are groomed into sexual abuse online.
Explore IWF's 2024 report detailing efforts to combat online child sexual abuse imagery, featuring key data, trends and collaborative initiatives.
Explore IWF's 2024 data on online child sexual abuse imagery, highlighting key trends, challenges and collaborative efforts to enhance online safety.
Explore IWF’s major achievements in 2025, from tech innovations to impactful partnerships, in combating child sexual abuse online.
Learn how we collect and analyse data for the 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. Explore our rigorous methodology for identifying online child sexual abuse.
Explore hosting trends in the 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. We analyse where criminal content is hosted and how the hosting landscape is evolving.
Analyse the commercial drivers of online harms in our 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. Explore data on payment methods and commercial abuse models.
Discover our hashing data in the 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. We analyse how digital fingerprinting is used to identify and remove illegal content.
Explore still image trends in our 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. We analyse the volume, age-range and severity of static abuse material.
Analyse moving image trends in our 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. We explore video volumes, duration trends, and the evolution of filmed abuse content.
Discover our operational impact in the 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report. We analyse our performance, removal efficiency and organisational achievements.