The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) released its annual report on Tuesday 25 April, warning that every child from whatever background can be at risk, with all young children unattended with a camera-equipped device and an internet connection at risk. The findings include the following:

• The number of images of children as young as seven being abused online has risen by almost two-thirds, while the number of websites found to contain the most extreme material has doubled in the last few years.
• A record 51,370 of the web pages containing category A child sexual abuse material have been taken down or blocked from the internet in the year 2022. There has been a doubling in Category A content since 2020. This category can include the most serious types of sexual abuse, including baby abuse, and covers acts such as bestiality or sadism. At a fifth of all content seen by the IWF, Category A child sexual abuse material was the highest the organisation has ever seen. 
• A total of 255,571 websites were confirmed to contain, link to or advertise child sexual abuse images -an increase of 1% compared to 2021.
• Across all three categories, the number of abuse images involving children aged 7-10 increased by 60%.
• While the majority (96%) of the images found were of girls, there has been an increase in the number of images of boys, with 2,641 cases in 2021 compared to 6,253 cases in 2022.
• Some of the most extreme sexual abuse is committed against the youngest children, with 81% of sites containing abuse of children aged from birth to two years and half of the images of three to six-year-olds containing category A material.

The IWF warned it reiterated its opposition to the introduction of end-to-end encryption on platforms without the necessary, technically feasible child protection measures. It warned that the uploading and distribution of harmful images must be prevented by technology companies.