Internet monitor launches awareness day

Three quarters of adults who have stumbled across images of child abuse on the internet are unsure of how to report it, according to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

In a survey of 1,000 people the charity, which works with the police, internet industry and Government to help block illegal content online, also found that seven in ten people ranked concerns about child sexual abuse images as their biggest internet worry.

The research coincides with the IWF Awareness Day, happening today. The day is designed to publicise the charity’s national reporting service, which enables people to report three types of illegal content – child sexual abuse images hosted anywhere in the world, criminally obscene material hosted in the UK and content inciting racial hatred hosted in the UK.

Peter Robbins, IWF chief executive, said: “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.

“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 then it’s vital to report them to the IWF; we have international partnerships in place to get these websites removed.

People wishing to file a report should visit the IWF website and click on the 'Report illegal content here' button.