Child sexual abuse

Report: 70M Warnings Issued Over Child Abuse Material in Last 2 Years

Are warning messages helping to stop online child sexual abuse or is tougher legislation still needed?

Published MAY 14

Report: 70M Warnings Issued Over Child Abuse Material in Last 2 Years

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Image credit: Marijan Murat/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Facts

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation reported Wednesday that over 70 million warning messages were triggered for attempts to access child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on online platforms in the past two years — averaging more than 95,000 per day — as part of Project Intercept, a partnership with tech firms including Google, TikTok and Meta.
Lucy Faithfull Foundation on X
BBC News
Caliber.az
Project Intercept operates across 131 countries and is active on platforms spanning search, social media, file-sharing, dating and pornographic sites, including end-to-end encrypted services and AI chatbot platforms.
Lucy Faithfull Foundation
Independent
Of the 70 million warnings served, nearly 700,000 users clicked through to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation's "Stop It Now" service, with an average of 28,000 users redirected per month in 2024 and 2025 and an 81% engagement rate with the resources.
Nursery World
Nominet
Google's product manager for Search said changes made in early 2025 resulted in greater engagement with therapeutic help services and a reduction in follow-up searches for illegal material.
Nominet
BBC News
The U.K.'s Crime and Policing Act, passed in April, introduces a new criminal offence targeting AI models optimized to generate child sexual abuse material, punishable by up to five years in prison, and updates existing law to cover AI-generated imagery in pedophile manual offences.
GOV.UK
UK Parliament
The Internet Watch Foundation confirmed 311,610 reports of child sexual abuse material in 2025, a 7% increase from 2024, and identified 3,443 AI-generated child sexual abuse videos — a 26.4% rise compared with the previous year.
GOV.UK

Sources Split

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RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

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PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Warning messages via programs like Project Intercept are proving to be a powerful tool against online child sexual abuse. Over 70 million intercepts in two years show that this approach works at scale. Nearly 700,000 people clicked through for help via Stop It Now, proving that disrupting harmful behavior at the moment of risk drives real change. Tech companies like Google, TikTok and OpenAI are already on board, and expanding this program is the smartest path forward.

Lucy Faithfull Foundation on X

Lucy Faithfull Foundation

Narrative B

Warning messages alone cannot fix a crisis this severe. AI-generated child sexual abuse videos surged 26.4% in a single year, and sharing this material remains far too easy online. Binding legislation like the Crime and Policing Act, the STOP CSAM Act and the EU's Child Sexual Abuse Regulation are essential to hold tech platforms accountable and give survivors real legal recourse. Without tough laws and stronger enforcement, perpetrators will keep operating with impunity.

GOV.UK

IWF