Report: 90% of Online Child Abuse Content 'Self-Generated' Through Extortion

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• Over 90% of over 275K websites found to contain child sexual abuse content in 2023 included 'self-generated' images reportedly involving children as young as three. The images are reportedly obtained through the extortion and coercion of minors.¹
• According to data released by the Internet Watch Foundation, self-generated sexual abuse material featuring children under 10 had been discovered on more than 100K webpages, marking a 66% rise from 2022.²
• The anti-abuse charity claims that Meta's plans for introducing end-to-end encryption on its Messenger service could potentially hinder the detection of abusive content.³
• However, the Foundation's Chief Executive Officer, Susie Hargreaves, said the 8% rise in websites containing self-generated imagery could also indicate that detection systems on the Internet are working better.⁴
• End-to-end encryption makes reading messages sent online extremely difficult and is intended to bolster the privacy of both senders and recipients. As a potential downside, this technology also reportedly hinders law enforcement activities in cases like these.⁵
• This comes after the UK National Police Chiefs' Council last week reported a 'worrying trend' of 'sextortion,' in which crime syndicates blackmail children using compromising images.⁶

Sources: ¹Sky News (a), ²Firstpost, ³BNN Breaking, ⁴Guardian, ⁵BBC News and ⁶Sky News (b).

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. Most often, criminals are one step ahead of law enforcement authorities. A tool like encryption hands a potential virtual weapon to bad actors. It's vital to balance the need for unfettered privacy with regulating technology that has a strong downside. An open society with private discussions does not also have to include tech that can harm children.
• Narrative B, as provided by UNICEF. Contrary to the erroneous assumption that encryption enables child sex abuse online, encryption technology overall protects children by limiting their exposure to such content, alongside threats and blackmail. The tool could also prevent criminals from accessing children's pictures or locations online. Not using encryption leaves everyone, including children, vulnerable.

Predictions