UK and US Unite to Tackle Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

International cooperation and collaboration must be the foundation of any efforts to remove Child Sexual Abuse Material. The internet doesn’t have any geographic boundaries and, sadly, neither to the criminals who create and promote this awful content.

The announcement that the UK and the US Governments intend to work closely together to prioritise children’s online safety has to be welcomed – and could set the tone which sees a definitive move towards a safer internet.

We are pleased to see this commitment to working together includes measures to address and prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, and we hope this leads to fewer places online for internet predators to hide.

The Government says this closer cooperation will include the formation of a new joint government working group on children’s online safety. It is important that civil society organisations like the IWF are given a seat at the table, bringing our expertise to tackle these difficult issues. We started making the internet safer in the 1990s by partnering with leading businesses, including some of the biggest tech providers and online platforms. Through our private/charitable model we are able to continuously innovate in our pursuit of online child sexual abuse material. 

We can also expect to see the UK and US Governments calls for online platforms to go “further and faster” in introducing measures to help protect children. We are putting pressure on them too and this additional support helps us all advocate for greater monitoring, particularly in End-to-End Encrypted services.

The countries will also share expertise on safety technologies and promote greater platform transparency, as well as working to mitigate the harmful impacts of new tech, including generative AI. This is vital given the rising threat of AI generated child sexual abuse, which our analysts are seeing more and more of.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle is right to say the online world brings incredible benefits for young people, enriching their education and social lives.

They need and deserve a safe place to do this. Making sure measures to tackle online child exploitation and abuse, including being victimised by AI tools, are brought in is fundamental to making this a reality. 
There are global moves to make sure online safety is prioritised. The UK’s Online Safety Act, which received Royal Assent last October, places duties on online platforms to protect children’s safety and put in place measures to mitigate risks. We are working with our partners in Europe to influence upcoming EU legislation and we engage various governments around the World in our efforts to ensure the higher standards of online safety.

Platforms will need to proactively tackle illegal content, and other content that is harmful to children, to ensure age-appropriate experiences. 

The IWF is as committed as ever to using our expertise to help make that happen, but we also know there is so much more to be done.

We look forward to seeing how these core principles laid out this week will come together as actions. We know it's possible to speak with one voice to say our children must always come first, and we welcome this leadership to help us get one step ahead in the fight against child sexual abuse online. 

This clear statement of intent must be the beginning of a renewed determination to reclaim the internet from those who want to hurt children and destroy futures. It comes not a moment too soon.