Experts warn lapse in online safety regulation in the EU could sharply reduce reports of child sexual abuse, echoing a 58% drop during a similar legal gap in 2021.
Internet Watch Foundation warns Elon Musk-owned AI risks bringing sexualised imagery of children into the mainstream.
The use of cryptocurrency in sales of human beings for prostitution and scam compounds nearly doubled in 2025, according to a conservative estimate. Many of the deals are happening in plain sight.
Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34%.
The numbers are staggering, but experts say what we’re seeing is only the beginning. As AI-generated child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, surges to record levels, researchers warn that the technology isn’t just producing more harmful content, but it’s fundamentally changing how children are targeted; how survivors are revictimized; and how investigators are overwhelmed.
National Crime Agency and safety watchdog issue guidance amid rise in explicit material online.
Criminals are manipulating pictures found on school websites and social media to create sexually explicit images and blackmail UK schools.
Europe’s largest hotline, the Internet Watch Foundation, is using this year’s Safer Internet Day to urge the European Commission to bring forward long awaited legislation to address the growing threat to children online.
IWF calls for changes to Bill to ensure it does not disrupt current mechanisms for stopping child sexual abuse on the internet
The US now hosts more child sexual abuse material online than any other country
Jordan King, reporter for Metro, looks at IWF transcripts showing actual conversations between online groomers and child victims
Senior writer at WIRED, Matt Burgess, looks into Pornhub trialling a new automated tool that pushes CSAM-searchers to seek help for their online behaviour