In Conversation With Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)

The future we want for the internet? Child sexual abuse, offenders, and the apps they use to avoid detection. New research shows online offenders are choosing end-to-end encrypted messaging apps to contact children and to spread child sexual abuse material amid renewed calls for Meta to rethink its planned roll out of end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messsenger. This new episode from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) focuses on new research from Finnish child protection agency Su...

The increase in self-generated child sexual abuse content is alarming. In 2022, more than three quarters (78%) of the webpages IWF identified as containing child sexual abuse material were tech-enabled, ie created via smartphones or webcams without the offender being physically present in the room with the child. As we release the Talk Trust Empower report, this episode delves into how children – many of them of primary school age – are groomed and extorted into producing self-generated image...

In Conversation With Thorn’s Head of Data Science Rebecca Portnoff and IWF Chief Technology Officer Dan Sexton. This episode explores what needs to be done to try and control the explosion in harmful AI-generated child abuse imagery and how other AI or machine-learning tools could be used to counter the phenomenon. Support the Show.

As the Online Safety Bill becomes the Online Safety Act, the Internet Watch Foundation looks at what is next.In this podcast, children’s online safety expert Natalia Greene and IWF Head of Policy and Public Affairs Mike Tunks explain this landmark piece of legislation and the effect it may have on all our lives.Support the Show.

Nowhere to Hide is part of the IWF’s In Conversation With series exploring the technological and political issues surrounding the global spread of child sexual abuse material. This episode looks at how end-to-end encryption goes further than standard encryption, meaning even the service providers themselves can’t see what has been shared between two users. It means that service providers who deploy end-to-end encryption on their platforms and messaging services are actively disabling th...

Our analysts in the Hotline have discovered a disturbing new trend, what they’ve called iCAP sites or “invite child abuse pyramid” sites. These sites encourage users to share links to criminal child sexual abuse material, spamming social media platforms with them and increasing the risk of accidental exposure to this content by the public.Our Hotline Manager Tamsin McNally shares more details about this trend and warns people to not click on links coming from unknown sources.Tamsin McNally, H...