Insights on persistent and emerging harms from the latest annual IWF data on reports of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
In 2025, IWF analysts assessed 451,250 reports. Of those reports, 311,610 were confirmed to contain or lead to CSAM. That’s equivalent to one report assessed every 70 seconds and one confirmed case of CSAM every 101 seconds. 1 This is a staggering statistic that only grows exponentially when you take into account that just one report could have tens of thousands of abusive images or videos. And to make matters worse, the amount of reports are increasing year upon year (by around 6%). 2
We attended the launch of the 2025 annual report, where the IWF gave insights into the the scale of the problem and their reflections on four key areas of emerging and persistent harms within the data. It was made very clear that CSAM is a global problem that demands a global response, and that it needs to be everyone’s responsibility to help keep children and young people safe online (particularly in the face of CSAM ‘becoming more resilient and widespread’).
Persistent and emerging harms
AI-generated CSAM
The amount of AI-generated videos in 2025, that contained CSAM, saw a 260 fold increase on 2024. Bringing the figure up to 3,443 videos. Over the past two years there have been 15,036 AI-generated videos and images identified containing CSAM. Of 2025’s material, 65% was category A (most extreme/severe) compared to 43% where AI wasn’t a factor. Concerningly, it was also mentioned that there are early signs of commercialisation with this content being created for blackmail or sexually coerced extortion. 3
Sexually coerced extortion (sextortion)
The IWF noted a growing issue of sextortion, emphasising how quickly it can escalate – with abusers asking for more content, more explicit content and more money. They also mentioned criminal groups targeting children online, particularly boys. Boys are disproportionately reporting sextortion with 92% of reports from this group, and reports were also highest amongst 14-17 year olds. A large majority of reports in the UK were self-submitted by children and young people through the Report Remove tool. The IWF also mentioned that in some cases of sextortion, images and videos are being captured without knowledge. 4
Violence against women and girls
Gendered sexual harm is a persistent issue, with 77% of CSAM victims being girls and 97% of victims in AI-generated CSAM being girls. However, girls only account for 28% of criminal reports submitted through the Report Remove service. Girls are also experiencing misogynistic, predatory and abusive comments online. The IWF explains: “Even in imagery of very young girls, sinister sexualisation with violent undertones is clearly present.” 5
Victimisation of older teens:
A growing dataset of teenagers aged 14-17 are increasingly caught in self-generated imagery (33% of images), sextortion, AI-generated content and leaks. The IWF feels that the numbers are actually much higher, as some teenagers are being mistaken for adults on adult content websites. Since 2022 reports from 14-17 year olds on Report Remove has increased 13-fold. Again there is a commercial aspect to these where ‘collections of indecent material are advertised, promoted, branded, monetised and directly sold for payment. ‘ 6
Other areas of concern include:
- Hosting hotspots – 63% of CSAM is hosted in the EU but the Bulgaria, the US and Netherlands hold the most, showing a systematic failures in the digital ecosystem.
- Commercialisation – 15,031 commercial URLs were identified, representing around 5% of confirmed child sexual abuse webpages, with purchases being made my cryptocurrency, money transfers and card payments, highlighting a need for better partnerships and coordination with the financial industry.
- Routes to access – abuse of encryption services and ‘secret handshake behaviour’ with routes to access through password protection, following a set pathways of links to reach content or watching a video to the end to see a password, has been helping offenders to build up layers of resilience and resistance.
The pain behind the numbers
It’s important to really understand what’s behind these numbers. During the launch, we were introduced to Roxy Longworth and her mother, Gay. Roxy is the founder of Behind Our Screens, where survivors of online harms such as sextortion and grooming can share their stories and have their voices amplified. Roxy and her mother told the harrowing story of Roxy’s own experiences of sextortion, where she was increasingly pressured at the age of just 13 to send nudes of a growing explicit nature to a 17 year-old-boy (and later a friend of that boy). Not only did Roxy talked about the pain she felt and complicated feelings of shame and self-blame but Gaye shared on how badly Roxy’s school had let her down. Roxy and Gaye both talked about not knowing where to turn for support.
How can you help?
Roxy and her mother said when they spoke with other victims’ families, they were ‘saddened by emboldened’ by what they heard. In the same way, we hope after reading this, you take some action. Whether it’s as a teacher taking the time to improve your knowledge in identifying potential victims and how you can support them; as a school leader looking at how you deliver on these insights in staff training and through your curriculum; as a parent to know how to start those non-judgemental uncomfortable conversations and where to seek support for you and your child; or perhaps, as a tech provider to build your products with safety by design and recognise where you are falling short in protecting children and young people – and actually do something about it.
Learn more
References
- IWF (2026) ‘Internet Watch Foundation Annual Report 2025.’ Available at: https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-data-insights-report-2025/ (Accessed: 18 May 2026)
- IWF (2026) ‘IWF 2025: Online Annual Data & Insights Report Launch.’ (Teams event, 07 May 2026)
- IWF (2026) ‘AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).’ Available at: https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-data-insights-report-2025/emerging-and-persistent-harms/ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-material/(Accessed: 18 May 2026)
- IWF (2026) ‘Sexually Coerced Extortion’. Available at: https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-data-insights-report-2025/emerging-and-persistent-harms/sexually-coerced-extortion/ (Accessed: 18 May 2026)
- IWF (2026) ‘Violence Against Women and Girls’. Available at: https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-data-insights-report-2025/emerging-and-persistent-harms/violence-against-women-girls/ (Accessed: 18 May 2026)
- IWF (2026) ‘Helping Older Teens’. Available at: https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-data-insights-report-2025/emerging-and-persistent-harms/taking-action-to-help-older-teens/ (Accessed: 18 May 2026)
