Dedicated takedown work scales: the IWF has removed abuse imagery from over a million webpages, keeping it off the platforms teens use.
The situation, the move, the outcome.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) exists to find and remove child sexual abuse material from the internet. Over five years (2019-2023) it removed such content from more than a million webpages, and in 2024 alone it acted on 291,270 webpages — each potentially containing many images. Its analysts investigate reports and build hash lists that platforms worldwide use to detect and block known material automatically.
Why it matters beyond one family.
The numbers are sobering but the point is hopeful: there is a global infrastructure actively removing this content and keeping it off the platforms teens use. Reporting feeds that machine.
How to apply it.
- If you ever encounter suspected abuse imagery, report it — don't share or save it.
- Teach teens that this content is illegal and that reporting routes help fast.
- Trust the takedown system rather than trying to handle it alone.
Concrete next steps.
- Report to the IWF (UK) or NCMEC's CyberTipline (US: CyberTipline.org).
- Use IWF's Report Remove service (UK) for a child's own images.
- For sextortion, follow the FBI/NCMEC steps and use Take It Down.
Read it for yourself.
- Internet Watch Foundation — 2023 annual report iwf.org.uk ↗
- IWF — record levels of online child sexual abuse in 2024 iwf.org.uk ↗
Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7) · Text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) · Find a child psychiatrist at aacap.org · For immediate danger, call 911.