The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has released new data that shows a 37% increase in child sexual abuse URLs. The number of confirmed child sexual abuse URLs rose from 57,335 in 2016 to 78,589 in 2017. There was also an unprecedented increase in disguised websites, indicating increased intelligence among offenders.
Europe is the worst offender for hosting these sites, with 65% of all confirmed child sexual abuse imagery. The IWF processed over 80,000 reports of confirmed sites, 35% more than the previous year. The IWF works internationally to remove child sexual abuse images.
