New figures from the Internet Watch Foundation reveal the amount of CSA material being found online by expert analysts is fifteen times higher than a decade ago.
Barnardo’s Interim Co-CEO Lynn Perry MBE commented:
“The increase in the amount of child abuse material online is horrific. Barnardo’s sees the impact of abuse and exploitation on children every day through our frontline services.
“We have long called for strict sanctions for companies that fail to keep children safe and are increasingly concerned about moves by social media companies to introduce end-to-end encryption which will make it easier for child sexual abusers to hide their online activity.
“We want to see the large social media companies stop putting children at risk and start leading by example. The tech capabilities to stop this material going online is there but now we need the will of these companies to use it.
“The upcoming Online Safety Bill also needs strengthening so that commercial pornography sites are under a duty to keep children safe, and prevent children from seeing harmful material. This change is vital if the Bill is to truly protect the next generation.”