Young girl sofa using phone online

Protecting Children Online: A Call to Action

We are dedicated to ending the spread of child sexual abuse imagery online. For nearly 30 years, since the early days of the internet, our job has been to help child victims of sexual abuse by hunting down and removing any online record of the abuse.

Amid emerging trends, such as child sexual abuse material generated by AI, it is critical that making the internet safer for children is a top priority for the new parliament.

In 2023 alone, the IWF removed over one million web pages featuring child sexual abuse images and videos. Heartbreakingly, 92% of the material we identified involved “self-generated” content, with a growing number of these victims being just three to six years old.

We are calling on Parliament to take decisive action to stay One Step Ahead in the fight against child sexual abuse online. We believe the Government must prioritise the following actions over the next parliamentary term:

  1. Prevent the spread of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery.
  2. Implement robust age verification to protect children.
  3. Ensure abusers have no hiding place in encrypted communications.
  4. Mandate the reporting of suspected child sexual abuse.
  5. Stop illegal content before it reaches the internet.


For more information or to get involved, please contact our Public Affairs & Policy Officer, Bobbie Dennis, at [email protected] or by calling 07496 580902.

IWF One Step Ahead Video

Latest IWF News

Charity raises alarm over surge in level of child sexual abuse imagery hosted in EU

Charity raises alarm over surge in level of child sexual abuse imagery hosted in EU

Call for Member States to come together and push forward with ‘desperately needed’ child protection laws as thousands of webpages containing children’s sexual abuse traced back to EU servers.

23 April 2025 News
Teens face ‘crisis’ of online sexual exploitation as charity says major new Government-backed scheme will ‘put rocket boosters’ on Online Safety Act

Teens face ‘crisis’ of online sexual exploitation as charity says major new Government-backed scheme will ‘put rocket boosters’ on Online Safety Act

IWF announces ‘ground-breaking’ decision to give thousands of smaller platforms free protection from millions of child sexual abuse images and videos as new report reveals scale of online threat to children.

23 April 2025 News
UK teen’s sex abuse imagery identified thanks to IWF analysts’ pioneering work with policing database

UK teen’s sex abuse imagery identified thanks to IWF analysts’ pioneering work with policing database

As teens face a ‘crisis’ of online sexual abuse and exploitation, the IWF looks at why getting imagery of older teens removed can be difficult for some moderators.

23 April 2025 Blog
Peer39 joins with IWF to prevent offenders profiting from the promotion of child sexual abuse content

Peer39 joins with IWF to prevent offenders profiting from the promotion of child sexual abuse content

New collaboration between advertising expert and Internet Watch Foundation will hit criminals in their pockets.

2 April 2025 News
AI giving offenders ‘DIY child sexual abuse’ tool, as dozens of child victims used in AI models, IWF warns MPs

AI giving offenders ‘DIY child sexual abuse’ tool, as dozens of child victims used in AI models, IWF warns MPs

The IWF has welcomed upcoming new legislation while giving evidence in Parliament this week.

28 March 2025 News
IWF and Black Forest Labs join forces to combat harmful AI-generated content

IWF and Black Forest Labs join forces to combat harmful AI-generated content

Partnership grants the frontier AI lab access to safety tech tools.

26 March 2025 News