AI-generated child sexual abuse videos have surged 400% in 2025, with experts warning of increasingly realistic, extreme content and the urgent need for regulation to prevent full-length synthetic abuse films.
Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers visits the IWF offices in Cambridge, UK, to hear directly from frontline experts about the harms of AI in the fight against online child sexual abuse.
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.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has launched a deliberately provocative public campaign in Brussels calling on EU citizens and MEPs to back a robust Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR). Titled "The Petition No One Would Sign," the campaign presents a mock petition asking the public to support making it easier for child sexual abuse to spread online — a proposition no one would actually endorse — to highlight the real-world consequences of a weak or delayed CSAR. Launched physically across Brussels, including at Schuman Metro station, and digitally across Europe, the campaign coincides with EU negotiators resuming talks this autumn after four years of stalled progress. The IWF cites a 260-fold rise in AI-generated child sexual abuse videos in 2025 alone. CEO Kerry Smith argues the technology and proposals to protect children already exist — what's missing is political will. The campaign urges citizens to contact their MEPs before the CSAR's temporary legal basis lapses in 2028.
Peer39, a leading provider of contextual intelligence for digital advertising, has joined forces with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to help disrupt and demonetise the spread of harmful content online.
Domain .ME, the registry for the .ME domain extension, has partnered with the Internet Watch Foundation to help put an end to child sexual abuse imagery online
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has welcomed a new Member, Utropolis, a next generation web filtering and digital safeguarding company.
Immaterialism will be among the first registrars to receive the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)’s dedicated Registrar Alerts.
Discover how IWF's dynamic URL list helps prevent access to known child sexual abuse imagery, supporting global efforts to protect children online.
Discover how IWF's Hash List uses unique digital fingerprints to help tech companies and law enforcement block known child sexual abuse imagery online.