Source: Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) published on this website Thursday 25 April 2024 by Jill Powell
Abuse hotline sees most extreme year on record and calls for immediate action to protect very young children online.
First-of-its kind new analysis shows three to six year old children being manipulated into sexual activities, including penetrating themselves, bestiality, and sadism or degradation, via webcams and camera devices.
‘Opportunistic’ predators strike while children are online on phones and devices often used within the family home.
IWF welcomes Ofcom consultation on new detection methods, but says companies should act immediately rather than wait for regulations to take effect.
Call for children under six to be warned about online dangers.
Record number of companies taking services from IWF to stop child sexual abuse images circulating online.
Children under six are being manipulated into “disturbing” acts of sexual abuse while parents think they are playing safely on household devices, as a new report highlights the need for more protections online.
New data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reveals thousands of images and videos of three to six year old children who have been groomed, coerced and tricked into sexually abusive acts, are now being found on the open internet.
The analysis, published today (April 23), shows for the first time* how three to six year old children are now being targeted by “opportunistic” internet predators who manipulate them into sexual activities.
The abuse, which analysts have seen ranging from sexual posing and masturbation, to sadism, degradation, and even sexual acts with animals**, is directed by perpetrators and often recorded without the child’s knowledge.
This so called “self-generated” child sexual abuse imagery, where a perpetrator is remote from the victim, is then shared far and wide on dedicated child sexual abuse websites.
The IWF, which is the UK’s front line against online child sexual abuse, welcomes Ofcom’s upcoming consultation on the use of automated content classifiers driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to detect illegal and harmful content, including previously undetected child sexual abuse material. However, it urges companies in and out of scope of the Online Safety Act to introduce these measures immediately, rather than waiting for the regulations to take effect later this year.
The IWF is ready to work with companies to develop solutions which can keep platforms safe, with unparalleled tagged datasets and knowledge which can help build new and effective tools.
