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See other news storiesMaking the internet safer
5 October 2009
Working together to stop online child sexual abuse.
The Internet Watch Foundation (new window) (IWF) is marking its Awareness Day on 14 October to focus attention on issues of safety on the internet. The Home Office supports the foundation's work to make the internet safer.
The IWF is the UK internet hotline for the public to report websites that host images of child sexual abuse anywhere in the world, as well as criminally obscene content or content that incites racial hatred hosted in the UK.
Working to make the web safer
The foundation was created by the internet industry in 1996, and it works in partnership with the police, the government, the wider online sector and the public to combat potentially illegal online content.
As a result of this approach, less than 1% of online child sexual abuse content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.
Notice and take down
Through its hotline reporting system, the IWF helps the online industry combat abuse of its services through a 'notice and take-down' initiative by alerting them to any potentially illegal content on their systems and enabling the police to investigate the publisher.
What to do
If you are accidentally exposed to or discover child sexual abuse content on the internet, you should report it immediately on the IWF's website (new window).
The law protects your right to report that content to the relevant authorities, however, anyone taking it upon themselves to seek out or investigate this kind of material where there is no legitimate duty to do so will be liable to prosecution.
