The most important charity you’ve never heard of
Chances are you haven’t heard of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). I hadn’t, until they got in touch with me last year. But this charity does extraordinary and important work.
Protecting children from abuse
The IWF protects children by hunting down and removing images of child sexual abuse online. They do this by combining the skills of their highly trained team of human analysts allied to cutting-edge technology. They trace, locate and remove content, ensuring that children do not experience repeated abuse.
The charity proactively searches for images of child sexual abuse online, as well as investigating reports submitted to its Report Remove service.
The IWF receives no government funding, but is supported by 200 members, including tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta.
Writing the annual data and insights report
In October last year, Emma Hardy, the IWF’s Communications Director, asked me to work with her on the charity’s upcoming annual data and insights report. My role was to interview senior people at the charity, write various elements of the annual report and edit other elements to ensure a consistent style.
I worked closely with Emma and her team, including Rebecca Wright, Communications Assistant, who’s with me in the main picture.
In the report, illustrations by Melissa Fife bring the issues to life.
Launch overlooking the Thames
The launch of the IWF annual data and insights report took place on 23 April at the offices of Mastercard, one of the members of the IWF. The location is stunning, with riverside views across the Thames. From the rooftop of the building, you can see Tower Bridge to the left and Tate Modern across to the right. If I worked in that building, it would be tempting to spend all my time out there looking out at the view.
Shocking prevalence of images online
Having worked so closely on the report, I was already familiar with the shocking prevalence of child sexual abuse images online.
The charity’s data shows that 2024 was the worst year on record for child sexual abuse online. Of the webpages analysed, 291,273 URLs were confirmed as containing child sexual abuse imagery, a 6% increase compared to 2023.
The IWF also saw an escalation in AI-generated images of child sexual abuse, a crime that is growing rapidly. Sextortion, where children are tricked into sharing nude or sexual imagery, is also on the rise. Last year, for the first time, the charity saw children as young as 11 being targeted by criminals in this way.
At the launch, two people shared powerful personal stories that added emotional weight to the statistics contained in the report.
Sometimes children are unaware they are being recorded and that an image or video of them is then being watched and shared by abusers.
A survivor talks
Megan is a Victim and Survivor Advocate at Marie Collins Foundation, a UK charity that supports victims and survivors of tech-assisted child sexual abuse.
She described how she was coerced into sharing nude images of herself when she was 14. The images were not removed and she was revictimised for the next two years.
“There’s no end date to the abuse,” she said. “You’re captured in the worst moments of your life.” She added: “The IWF’s work is so important. You know that people are doing incredible work in the background to take these images down. The IWF puts a message of hope out there.”
The IWF fosters an environment of psychological safety for its staff.
An IWF analyst shares her view
We also heard from an IWF analyst who spends her days identifying and removing images of child sexual abuse. “When I first started this job, I was shocked by the scale of the problem,” she said. “We can see thousands of images a day. You can see the same child a harrowing number of times. We see the worst of humanity online, but this is offset by the support of the tight-knit team in the room.
“In an ideal world, my job wouldn’t exist,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can to make the world a safer place for children.”
Work with the IWF
If you work in the tech space and want to know how IWF’s services can help protect your platform and services, check out their website. You can also anonymously report suspected child sexual abuse images or videos on the site. The charity welcomes donations and support from individuals and organisations that share its aims and values.
More
- See the full 2024 IWF annual data and insights report.
- Read about my work writing for charities.
- See work by illustrator Melissa Fife.