The Internet Watch Foundation has released its 2022 Annual Report, which reveals a deep dive into the digital and social emergency happening #BehindTheScreens in children’s bedrooms.
“Invite child abuse pyramid” or ICAP sites incentivise users to share links to criminal content in a “scattergun” approach which spams links to a variety of social media platforms.
Links to these sites could be anywhere; social media, chat sites, almost anywhere people can post links. More than 98% of them confirmed to contain some of the worst abuse our analysts see.
“It is an easy way for criminals to spread this material and it is a profitable model for them. They are making a quick buck off horrific imagery which is visible as soon as you visit the page. You don’t even need to log in.”
“These are real children, and the suffering inflicted on them is unimaginable. They are being raped, and subjected to sexual torture, and criminals are making money off the back of that.”
Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO
2022 in numbers
- 375,230 reports were assessed by the IWF (+4% on 2021)
- 255,588 reports were confirmed as containing child sexual abuse imagery, having links to the imagery, or advertising it (+1% on 2021). These reports are of websites and newsgroups.
- Total number of actioned reports that were tagged as including self-generated content was 199,363 (+9% on 2021 which was 182,281), according to the Internet Watch Foundation.
- There was a 13 percentage point increase (from 23% to 36%) in sexual abuse imagery of 7-10 year olds, (regardless of how it was created) and a 10 percentage point decrease (68% to 58%) in sexual imagery of 11-13 year olds compared to the year before. However, imagery of 11-13s is still the most prevalent.
- Curated 1,663,106 quality-assured hashes – or digital fingerprints – of unique child sexual abuse images.
About the IWF
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a technology-driven organization dedicated to child protection, committed to creating a safer online environment for children and adults worldwide. As a not-for-profit organization, it collaborates closely with law enforcement, governments, and NGOs across the globe, all of which rely on its efforts. The IWF’s mission involves detecting, disrupting, removing, and preventing online materials related to child sexual abuse, utilizing its expertise and resources to achieve maximum effectiveness. Support from the Internet Watch Foundation is crucial in these endeavors.
View the full web version of the report here or download the full PDF report here
