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.
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“The additional help from Mastercard will help our analysts carry on their essential work keeping the internet safe for everyone.”
Experts warn that 1% of the entire male population could be ‘interested in sex with prepubescent children’.
IWF analyst 'Lucy' spoke to the BBC about her work tracking down and fighting against online child sexual abuse.
Listen to 'It can happen in any home' the new true crime episode of the Pixels from a Crime Scene podcast from IWF.
Our podcast tells the story of online child sexual abuse through the words of victims, the people fighting it, police, tech companies & even perpetrators.
IWF CEO Kerry Smith welcomes TikTok’s decision to prioritise child protection over end‑to‑end encryption.
Huw Edwards’ offences highlight how WhatsApp can be abused by predators sharing criminal imagery of children, IWF warns. Dan Sexton, Chief Technology Officer at the IWF, appeared on national BBC Breakfast television this week (September 17) to warn Meta is not taking adequate steps to proactively prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material on the platform.
More than nine in ten people in the UK say they are concerned at how images and videos of children being sexually abused are shared through end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging services.