Phased implementation of the IWF Hash List, nets nearly 19,000 child sexual abuse images.
On Wednesday (23 September) myself and the IWF team welcomed Rosalba Ceravolo from Telefono Azzurro into our office to better understand how our two hotlines tackle child sexual abuse online content.
Chris Hughes, who has worked at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) for nearly nine years, oversees the IWF’s hotline and leads a team of analysts whose job is to assess images and videos of suspected child sexual abuse to help get them removed from the internet.
ECLAG high-level event on March 20 in Brussels will discuss what vital new EU legislation needs in order to be effective.
The findings will be ‘invaluable’ in turning the tide on the threat children are facing from online predators.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has launched a deliberately provocative public campaign in Brussels calling on EU citizens and MEPs to back a robust Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR). Titled "The Petition No One Would Sign," the campaign presents a mock petition asking the public to support making it easier for child sexual abuse to spread online — a proposition no one would actually endorse — to highlight the real-world consequences of a weak or delayed CSAR. Launched physically across Brussels, including at Schuman Metro station, and digitally across Europe, the campaign coincides with EU negotiators resuming talks this autumn after four years of stalled progress. The IWF cites a 260-fold rise in AI-generated child sexual abuse videos in 2025 alone. CEO Kerry Smith argues the technology and proposals to protect children already exist — what's missing is political will. The campaign urges citizens to contact their MEPs before the CSAR's temporary legal basis lapses in 2028.