Internet Watch Foundation’s annual report reveals a growing number of online child sexual abuse images and sites

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) released its annual report on Tuesday 25 April, warning that every child from whatever background can be at risk, with all young children unattended with a camera-equipped device and an internet connection at risk. The findings include the following:

• The number of images of children as young as seven being abused online has risen by almost two-thirds, while the number of websites found to contain the most extreme material has doubled in the last few years.
• A record 51,370 of the web pages containing category A child sexual abuse material have been taken down or blocked from the internet in the year 2022. There has been a doubling in Category A content since 2020. This category can include the most serious types of sexual abuse, including baby abuse, and covers acts such as bestiality or sadism. At a fifth of all content seen by the IWF, Category A child sexual abuse material was the highest the organisation has ever seen. 
• A total of 255,571 websites were confirmed to contain, link to or advertise child sexual abuse images – an increase of 1% compared to 2021.
• Across all three categories, the number of abuse images involving children aged 7-10 increased by 60%.
• While the majority (96%) of the images found were of girls, there has been an increase in the number of images of boys, with 2,641 cases in 2021 compared to 6,253 cases in 2022.
• Some of the most extreme sexual abuse is committed against the youngest children, with 81% of sites containing abuse of children aged from birth to two years and half of the images of three to six-year-olds containing category A material.

The IWF warned it reiterated its opposition to the introduction of end-to-end encryption on platforms without the necessary, technically feasible child protection measures. It warned that the uploading and distribution of harmful images must be prevented by technology companies.