IWF used to receive some funding from the European Union’s EU Safer Internet Programme. This is now provided by Nominet.
EU countries urged to have ‘courage’ and push for better laws to protect children at IWF’s annual report launch in Brussels
The EU ePrivacy derogation has lapsed, leaving children vulnerable. We must restore legal certainty for CSAM detection. Protecting children is not a threat to privacy; it is a fundamental human right.
The IWF warns that the EU’s failure to extend the temporary derogation will force platforms to halt proactive detection of child sexual abuse, putting children at serious risk.
The Internet Watch Foundation is joining ECLAG coalition partners in a statement urging EU policymakers ‘to not fail children, victims and survivors and adopt ambitious measures to effectively protect children from sexual abuse and grooming.’
The European Parliament is taking a decisive stand against the rise of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (AI-CSAM), co-hosting a high-level briefing with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to address this urgent threat. With a 380% increase in AI-CSAM reports in 2024, the Parliament is pushing for robust legal reforms through the proposed Child Sexual Abuse Directive. Key priorities include criminalising all forms of AI-generated CSAM, removing legal loopholes such as the “personal use” exemption, and enhancing cross-border enforcement. The IWF and the European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group (ECLAG) urge the Council of the EU to align with Parliament’s strong stance to protect children and support survivors. This article highlights the scale of the threat, the evolving technology behind synthetic abuse imagery, and the critical need for updated EU legislation.
New IWF data shows that three in every five child sexual abuse reports are hosted in an EU member state.
IWF paper sets out how end-to-end encrypted messaging can be protected from child sexual abuse without breaking encryption.
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.