Tech Secretary sees ‘heartbreaking’ scale of online abuse on IWF hotline visit as ‘transformational’ online safety rules come into effect

Peter Kyle visited the IWF to see for himself the scale, and severity, of online sexual abuse against children.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has visited the Internet Watch Foundation’s hotline to witness the “heartbreaking” scale of online child sexual abuse as new online safety rules come into force.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which is the UK organisation responsible for finding and removing child sexual abuse imagery from the internet, welcomed Mr Kyle to the hotline to meet its internet content analysts, and to see for himself the scale and severity of the sexual abuse being inflicted on children online.

Mr Kyle was taken on a guided tour of the IWF’s secure hotline facility in Cambridge and spoke to staff at the front line of the fight against child sexual abuse. He heard about emerging threats, including the abuse of AI technology, which are compounding the situation.

The visit comes as Ofcom begins enforcing aspects of the Online Safety Act from today (March 17) in what is being hailed as a “transformational” moment for online safety.

For the first time under the Online Safety Act, which became law in 2023, online service providers will be required to take the safety measures set out in Ofcom’s Illegal Harms Codes or use other effective measures to protect users from illegal content and activity, including child sexual abuse imagery.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “At the Internet Watch Foundation, I was confronted with the devastating reality of online child abuse. Seeing the dedication and professionalism of their team was profoundly moving. It's not some distant threat; it's here, it's real, and it's happening now. 

“The visit also underscored the importance of the Online Safety Act. From today, companies now have a legal duty to proactively tackle child abuse material on their platforms. These are groundbreaking laws, but I also want to see tech companies collaborating more with organisations like the IWF, using their tools and expertise to remove traces of this abhorrent content. 

“But the Online Safety Act is not the end of the conversation; it’s the foundation. We will keep listening to partners like the IWF and will not hesitate to strengthen the law further to ensure our children are safe and protected online.”

Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO at the IWF, said: “It was a privilege to welcome Mr Kyle to the Internet Watch Foundation and to show him, at this most vital time, the heartbreaking scale of the threat against children online today.

“Online child sexual abuse is surging. New threats like sextortion are costing young lives, and emerging AI technologies are making it easier for criminals to target and exploit young victims.  

“The new rules could not come at a more crucial time. The Online Safety Act has the potential to be transformational in protecting children from online exploitation.

“It is imperative, now, that this new legislation delivers ambitious and effective regulation to ensure services undertake necessary steps to combat child sexual abuse material online.”

Under the codes, platforms in scope will need to proactively detect and remove known child sexual abuse imagery, such as by implementing hash-matching technology which compares uploaded material to a list of digital fingerprints of confirmed criminal content. 

Ofcom also announced it would be beginning an enforcement programme designed to crack down on child sexual abuse imagery being spread via file-sharing services and on file storage sites.

Mr Ray-Hill added: “It is so important that child sexual abuse is being prioritised, and we are greatly encouraged to see how resolute Mr Kyle is in protecting children and ensuring the abuse we are seeing today does not continue to spiral.

“We stand ready to assist Ofcom as it enforces the legislation, and to help companies to do everything they can to comply with the new duties. We’ve been at the forefront of the fight against online child sexual abuse for nearly three decades, and our tools, tech, and data are cutting-edge.

“Now is the time for online platforms to join that fight and make sure they are doing everything they can to stop the spread of this dangerous and devastating material.”