Tech Secretary left ‘shocked to the core’ after visiting crack team hunting down child abuse images

TECHNOLOGY Secretary Peter Kyle has revealed he was left shocked to the core after visiting an expert team hunting down child sexual abuse images.

He vowed to do more to stop sick paedophiles using tech to abuse children in their own bedrooms.

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Peter Kyle has revealed he was left shocked to the core after visiting an expert team hunting down child sexual abuse imagesCredit: Andrew Styczynski

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Tamsin McNally said: ‘The ease with which people create indecent content and the volume of images has blown up considerably’Credit: Andrew Styczynski

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The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in CambridgeCredit: Andrew Styczynski

The Cabinet Minister was shown redacted content on a tour of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in Cambridge earlier this week.

The material included graphic images generated by AI — a problem the charity warns has increased four-fold.

This includes digitally altering photos of kids to “nudeify” them, or superimposing their faces on to child abuse images.

Mr Kyle told The Sun on Sunday: “I have seen today the most depraved aspects of humanity, but also been moved and inspired by these people who dedicate their lives to making children who’ve been exploited safe.

“It rocks you straight through to your core. Some of these images are coming from people’s bedrooms.

“Adults are finding their way into children’s rooms and coercing them by exploiting their vulnerabilities. This is criminal sexual exploitation and abuse.”

From tomorrow, tech firms have to tackle criminal activity on their platforms under changes in the Online Safety Act.

Companies failing to act face fines of up to £18million or ten per cent of their qualifying worldwide revenue.

But Mr Kyle has been critical of the “uneven” act he has inherited and said that he is willing to legislate again to protect children.

Pressed on what he might do, he said he wants tech products “rigorously” tested for safety before release.

Signs your child is secretly being groomed on the school run and what to do to help them

Mr Kyle added: “What happens at the moment is the products are released into the online society and we then pick up the pieces afterwards. You couldn’t do that with a car but you can do it with an online product that is used by half of the world’s population.”

The IWF’s hit squad has special permission to actively look for sick, illegal content in order to get it shut down by police and tech firms.

They helped remove a record 291,273 web pages last year.

It marked a staggering 830 per cent increase in online child sexual abuse imagery since the charity began this work back in 2014.

Their expert analysts have to trawl through the most horrendous content online — some of which goes on for hours and can include very young children.

But the IWF can create a digital footprint for illegal content to stop it being uploaded, downloaded or shared again.

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Extortionists blackmail children for money and abuse images online

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Ms McNally said: ‘The criminals behind sexual extortion scams are so clever, so adept at what they do, that no child is safe’

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The IWF’s hit squad has special permission to actively look for sick, illegal content in order to get it shut down by police and tech firmsCredit: Getty

Staff are given mandatory counselling sessions to help them cope with what they see.

They also investigate reports from members of the public via a hotline.

On the morning The Sun on Sunday visited, 1,500 reports came in.

Just one report can contain thousands of images.

Hotline manager Tamsin McNally said: “We see thousands and thousands of children being sexually abused every single day. You can’t comprehend how much is out there.

“The ease with which people create indecent content and the volume of images has blown up considerably.”

She added: “One of the saddest things for me is that when I started 11 years ago I saw victims being sexually abused — and that was bad enough. But they are now grown up, potentially with their own children. I’m now seeing them again in situations that they weren’t in because somebody has taken their images and used AI to create whatever they want.

“The only limitation when it comes to AI is your imagination.

“So that child victim is victimised again every single time someone looks at them. It’s just awful.”

IWF analysts confirmed 245 reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse in 2024, compared with 51 in 2023 — a 380 per cent rise.

Of these reports, 193 involved imagery that was so realistic it had to be treated in exactly the same way as “real” photographs of child sexual abuse.

Ministers have promised to introduce the world’s first AI sexual abuse offences in response to the growing threat.

The IWF has also introduced a Report Remove service, which children can contact in confidence to eradicate sexual images of themselves from the internet.

It comes amid a surge in online sextortion where criminals use images of children to blackmail them into further abuse.

Ms McNally added: “The criminals behind sexual extortion scams are so clever, so adept at what they do, that no child is safe.

“So with Report Remove, young people under the age of 18 in the UK can report any nude images, videos or websites. We can then determine if they’re criminal not. We assess them against the law.

“We feed back to them via the Childline counsellor, who’ll provide that safeguarding wraparound support. And then we work on the imagery, removing it.

“We know young people, when they send a report to us via Report Remove — and that happens every single day — that they’ve been able to get the help. I know it’s a really awful situation and they feel like they’ve completely lost control but by using Report Remove, they know there’s somebody here who can help in this situation.

“That makes me really pleased that we are able to do something about it for them in their worst moments. And we know with sexual extortion, unfortunately, children have taken their own lives and it’s just so cruel.

“But if I can leave the office going, ‘OK, we’ve had six Report Removes in — and each of those children were at a really low point, perhaps — we’ve managed to do something about it’, that’s a good thing to know.”

Last year, 1,142 reports were submitted to Report Remove and assessed by analysts — a 44 per cent increase on 2023.

Of these, the IWF took action on 642 reports that contained criminal child sexual abuse content.

They were highest among 14 and 15-year-olds, but analysts are also seeing a growing amount of imagery from those aged 11 to 13.

IWF’s interim CEO Derek Ray-Hill has urged the Government to look at measures to access private online communications and boost age verification.

He said: “It’s incredibly distressing to think about, but what we realise now is child sexual abuse online and offline is far more prevalent than we’d like to admit as a society.

“We need to be honest with ourselves about the sheer volume of sinister activity in the universe and make sure we don’t allow more safe havens, more opt-outs, more ‘get out of jail cards’ for these people.”

SAFETY IS NOT ‘UP FOR GRABS’

By SOPHIA SLEIGH

BRITAIN will not water down its online safety legislation in a bid to avoid US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle stressed the regulation was “not negotiable”, adding: “It’s not up for grabs.”

New laws coming into force tomorrow mean tech companies that fail to stop criminal activity on their platforms face massive fines.

There has been concern regulation could be watered down to dodge severe American tariffs.

Mr Trump slapped global levies of 25 per cent on steel and aluminium imports and is preparing to impose broader ones.

There have also been concerns the UK’s online safety legislation will put us on a collision course with Trump ally and X owner Elon Musk.

But Mr Kyle said: “Everyone who operates within UK territory must comply with the Online Safety Act. This is not negotiable.”

Ministers hope the UK can avoid tariffs by striking a deal on artificial intelligence and critical technologies.

Britain has already moved to taking a light-touch approach to regulating AI — more in line with the US than EU.

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