Child sexual abuse material

The NSPCC has collaborated with the Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse and Barnardo’s to send a joint letter to the Home Sectary and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, calling for the Government to ensure children are better protected from child sexual abuse in private messaging environments. 

Data gathered by the NSPCC from police forces across the UK on child sexual abuse image offences, indicates private messaging sites were involved in more crimes of this nature than any other type of platform. The letter expresses collective concern regarding Ofcom's Illegal Harms Code of Practice, published in December 2024. It argues that only requiring illegal content to be removed where it is ‘technically feasible’ creates a loophole for service providers. 

The charities are calling for all private messaging services, including those using end-to-end encryption, to ensure robust safeguards are in place to protect children and for Ofcom to review and strengthen its codes of practice. 

Read the press release: More than 100 child sexual abuse image crimes being recorded by police every day

See also on NSPCC Learning: Protecting children from sexual abuse