Citizens urged to report child abuse web sites

The Internet Watch Foundation wants to make it easier for people to report offensive online content

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is using its Awareness Day today to launch a new campaign aimed at helping people report web sites that harbour images of child abuse.

New research by the IWF reveals that over three-quarters of adult surfers in the UK who have stumbled across images of children being sexually abused had no idea how to report the finding.

Furthermore, seven out of 10 respondents ranked the availability of child sexual abuse images as their top concern about the internet.

To combat this the IWF has teamed up with a host of partners, including ISPs, mobile operators, social networking sites, online gaming companies, search engines, charities and government departments, to promote its national reporting service.

The promotion includes running ads on partner web sites, emailing staff and customers and featuring IWF information on homepages and intranets in order to raise awareness of the IWF Hotline.

"The UK has a very proactive approach to tackling child sexual abuse content online but we could do even more with the public's help," said Peter Robbins, chief executive of the IWF.

"That is why so many organisations are taking part in this campaign today to reach millions of people and raise awareness of our Hotline service.

"Internet consumers should know that, if they do stumble across these images, it is vital to report them to the IWF; we have international partnerships in place to get these web sites removed.

"The IWF members and supporters who are united in their efforts to try to eradicate these terrible images on the internet deserve all our thanks."

The survey found that, while almost every single respondent believed that the internet is an overwhelmingly positive resource in everyday life, many are concerned about the seedier side of the online universe, particularly illegal activities such as child pornography.

Robbins also praised UK efforts to combat this problem, including initiatives like the voluntary blocking of child sexual abuse sites by online companies.

According to IWF figures, 2007 saw a 10 per cent decrease in the number of web sites confirmed by the IWF to depict child sexual abuse.