‘Extreme’ Category A child sexual abuse found online doubles in two years

The amount of Category A child sexual material discovered online has doubled since 2020, with newborn babies and toddlers among the victims of the most severe kinds of sexual abuse, new data reveals.

The Internet Watch Foundation’s annual report, published today (April 25) shows that, in 2022, a record-breaking 51,369 of the webpages it took action to remove or block from the internet contained Category A child sexual abuse material.

This is the most severe kind of imagery, and can include the worst kinds of sexual abuse, including the rape of children, babies, and even newborns, as well as acts including bestiality, or sadism.

The amount of this kind of content has doubled since 2020 when the IWF uncovered 25,050 pages containing Category A abuse. The total number of URLs in 2022 containing Category A child sexual abuse material is higher than the IWF has ever seen before.

Proportionally, Category A material now accounts for 20 per cent of all the content the IWF sees – up from 18 per cent in 2021, and 17 per cent in 2020.

The IWF is the UK organisation responsible for tracking down child sexual abuse imagery online. It works alongside industry and law enforcement to make sure this content is swiftly removed from the internet.

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the IWF, said: “We have seen criminals looking to exploit more and more insidious ways to profit from the abuse of children.

“I don’t think I can overstate the harm being done here. 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. It is truly appalling.

“Last year, we saw more of the most extreme kind of content online than ever before. Category A imagery can include some of the worst sexual acts being carried out against children.”

The rise in more extreme imagery is in part due to criminal sites looking to commercialise the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

In 2020, the IWF found 12,900 commercial webpages dedicated to the sexual abuse of children. In 2022, this had more than doubled, with 28,933 webpages being identified as commercial child sexual abuse sites.

Ian Critchley QPM, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations said: “The IWF’s work is so important in enabling police to really understand the offending that is going on.

“We know that we have new crime types to deal with all the time, and we know that criminals will stop at nothing to exploit and abuse children for their own gain, making money from the most awful acts of abuse.

“The rise in the most severe offending being found is deeply disturbing – not only are all internet users far more likely to be exposed to this harmful material, but it demonstrates once again how criminals have no regard for the lifelong harm it causes these children. If you are viewing such material, be in no doubt – this is not a victimless crime. These are real children.

“We would urge the public not to click on unknown or suspicious links -and – if you are exposed to such material, to report it, so that IWF can remove it.”

These sites are typically not hosted by mainstream hosting companies, instead mainly being found on servers in little-known companies based in Europe or Asia.

The process to get these sites taken down is not easy but the IWF works hard to track them down and have them removed.

The data shows some of the very worst sexual abuse the IWF finds is being perpetrated upon the youngest, most helpless children, with babies and toddlers being subjected to acts including rape and sexual torture.

In 2022, 81 per cent (810 URLs) of URLs containing the sexual abuse of 0-2 year old children contained Category A material.

As well as this, 50 per cent of the imagery of 3-6 year olds (5,622 URLs) was deemed to contain Category A material.

In total in 2022, the IWF confirmed 255,570 URLs contained images or videos of children suffering sexual abuse.

The majority (96 per cent or 242,989 instances) of the imagery found shows girls, but there has been a 137 per cent rise in the imagery featuring boys compared to the previous year (2,641 instances in 2021, compared to 6,253 in 2022).

While analysts are finding more criminal content online than ever before, there has also been an upsurge in private companies looking to protect their customers from criminal content online.

In Total: 

• In 2022, the IWF investigated a total of 375,230 reports suspected to contain child sexual abuse imagery – an increase of 4% on 2021.
• Of these, 255,580 reports were confirmed to contain images or videos of children suffering sexual abuse.
• This compares to 2021, when the IWF investigated 361,060 reports, 252,000 of which were confirmed as containing child sexual abuse imagery.
• In 2022, 199,360 of the URLs the IWF confirmed as child sexual abuse material contained images and videos made and/or shared via an internet connected device with a camera, as opposed to an abuser being physically present in the room with the victim/s. Often, a child has been groomed, coerced and encouraged by someone interacting with the child online. The amount of this material has increased nine per cent compared to 2021.

The public is given this advice when making a report to iwf.org.uk/report:

• Do report images and videos of child sexual abuse to the IWF to be removed. Reports to the IWF are anonymous.
• Do provide the exact URL where child sexual abuse images are located.
• Don’t report other harmful content – you can find details of other agencies to report to on the IWF’s website.
• Do report to the police if you are concerned a child may be in immediate danger.

Do report only once for each web address – or URL. Repeat reporting of the same URL isn’t needed and wastes analysts’ time.

If you’re concerned about your own thoughts or behaviour, you can contact Stop It Now! for help and support.