IWF’s remit includes the identification and removal of UK-hosted non-photographic child sexual abuse images and videos (Prohibited Images of Children).
In 2023, we identified 280 reports of non-photographic child sexual abuse imagery (a 2% increase from 2022). However, after our assessment, none of these were confirmed as UK-hosted content.
Given that non-photographic child sexual abuse imagery is criminal in the UK but not criminal everywhere, we were unable to seek the removal of this content from many other jurisdictions. Therefore, we added these URLs to our Non-Photographic Imagery (NPI) List, to support those companies who want to prevent access to this content.
At the end of 2023, 295 unique URLs of non-photographic child sexual abuse imagery were listed on the NPI URL List. 22 IWF Members subscribe to this service.
What can we do about this?
The UK is one of the few countries in the world where non-photographic child sexual abuse imagery is criminal.
If we find this content hosted in the UK, we issue a notice to the hosting provider who removes it. This hasn’t happened in the UK since 2016. However, this type of content does exist online and if UK-hosted, would fail UK laws.
Technology companies want the flexibility of being able to block and filter it to prevent their customers from stumbling across it.
Therefore, we created the NPI List, which contains, drawings, computer generated imagery (CGI) and other non-photographic representations of child sexual abuse which is hosted outside the UK.
The URLs provided in the NPI List are those deemed at the time of assessment to breach UK legislation, specifically Sections 62 to 69 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Several international technology companies use this list to protect their services for their customers.