New data released by the IWF today shows that the hosting of child sexual abuse material in the EU has increased by an alarming 26% this year compared to the same period last year. Finland in particular has experienced a shocking 35 percent growth during this period. The IWF warns that it only takes a few rogue image servers for this dangerous content to gain a foothold.
The data also shows a staggering 54% of child sexual abuse material in extreme forms, which are classified as Class A. This category contains images of rape, animal cruelty, sadism and sexual torture. Between January 1 and August 25 this year, the IWF identified a staggering 101,988 websites containing child sexual abuse material in EU member states, a sharp increase from the 80,977 found in the same period in 2022.
Of the websites identified this year, 21,651 contained Class A material, an increase of around 54% compared to the same period last year, when 14,094 such pages were found.
Susie Hargreaves OBE, Director General of the IWF, strongly urged EU lawmakers to act quickly on this worsening situation and support future legislation aimed at curbing the spread of child sexual abuse material online. He stated: “If these were warehouses full of drugs or weapons, immediate action would be taken to rid countries of these ruthless criminal gangs. It should be no different with child sexual abuse material.”
Hargreaves continued: “These gangsters are turning the continent into a toxic reservoir of this dangerous criminal content. The EU must now pass vital legislation to stop the spread of child sexual exploitation material. Failure to do so will only make the situation worse and send a clear message to criminals and abusers that the EU is a safe place for them to operate. This must not be allowed to happen.”
The European Union has consistently ranked high on the IWF’s list of worst places to host child sexual abuse material, and the Netherlands has come out on top for hosting crime images. In 2023 alone, the IWF confirmed that there were 75,251 websites hosting such content in the Netherlands, a whopping 107% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
Even countries that have not previously been involved in hosting such material are witnessing alarming escalations. In Germany, the hosting of child sexual abuse material has increased by 150%: 9,862 URLs were detected between January 1, 2023 and August 25, compared to 3,944 URLs in 2022. The situation in Estonia is even more disturbing and shocking. The amount of hosted material increased by 4,000%, while at the same time in 2022 there were only four web pages to 164 in 2023.
Ms Hargreaves stressed the urgency of the situation, saying: “Countries need to know that all they need on their shores is a couple of bad-image hosts. That’s all they need to take root – and soon they will be a destination. There is no room for complacency. We must remove this now and a strong message to send.”
The IWF encourages the public to report any images or videos of child sexual abuse anonymously on its website and provide the exact URL where the material is located. In addition, immediate concerns regarding the child’s safety must be reported to the police. The organization also advises against repeatedly reporting the same URL to avoid wasting analysts’ time.
HT
Source: The Nordic Page