Online child abuse reaches critical level with 1,000 arrests monthly

National Crime Agency says the ‘threat is getting worse’

Efforts to protect children from online abuse have reached a critical level, according to the UK’s policing leads for child sexual abuse (CSA), who warn that technology companies could do more to tackle the escalating problem.

Rob Jones, the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) director of general operations, stated the "threat is getting worse" because of children’s increasing reliance on the internet, which grants greater online access to them.

He also suggested that the behaviour of offenders can be falsely rationalised, normalised and radicalised by online groups, who may encourage others to harm children. Furthermore, algorithms are driving offenders to places where they can find like-minded people.

Mr Jones added: "In the last three years the amount of material and the leads we are receiving from our colleagues in the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has roughly doubled.

Mr Jones said offenders are collaborating and co-ordinating their activities on the dark web and using the open web as a “discovery platform to identify and abuse vulnerable children”. (Getty Images)

“We were dealing with in the region of 500-800 arrests a few years ago, and we are now dealing with 1,000 arrests and 1,200 (child) safeguards every month.

“To maintain that means a 24/7 effort by the NCA and colleagues in policing, and that gives you a feel for how the threat has grown.”

Mr Jones said offenders are collaborating and co-ordinating their activities on the dark web and using the open web as a “discovery platform to identify and abuse vulnerable children”.

He described the situation as “incredibly damaging”, adding: “We want society to push back and people to confront their offending – that is the opposite of what happens in the online world.

“Due to the way algorithms drive people with like-minded interests together – and because of the way people operate – they will be told what they are doing is normal.

“It will be rationalised and then you will see almost a radicalisation process where their behaviour will be encouraged and everything they have been told was wrong (behaviour) throughout their life, is (now) the opposite.”

During a single week in January, the NCA and forces across the UK made 252 arrests, including 118 people who were then charged, 35 people were sentenced in court and 407 children were safeguarded.

Officials say this level of activity is now happening each week.

Many of the safeguarding actions carried out to protect children have been triggered by activity detected through social media.

Mr Jones said: “This is mainstream platforms. This is not niche, dark web or dark areas of the internet.

“This is the regulated environment that should be the safest part of the system.”

Officials say the threat has diversified and offenders have been seen commissioning the livestream sexual abuse of children on demand for as little as £20.

The financially motivated sexual extortion (FMSE) of, primarily, young boys is increasing.

There is also a trend causing significant harm of online “communities” – known as “Com groups” – where members share and promote increasingly sadistic material.

Mr Jones said such groups are causing the radicalisation of users: “Some of these groups will encourage each other to commit more horrendous crimes against children. They will egg each other on.

“Once it has been normalised and you are told this behaviour is normal, there are pathways where these people are encouraged to do more harmful things.

“We have seen that with some of the new offending in the Com groups where there is sadistic behaviour which is far worse than we have seen before and where people are not only doing this for their sexual gratification but doing it to create harm.”

Temporary Chief Constable Becky Riggs, the National Police Chiefs’ lead for child protection and abuse investigation, said education is a vital part of creating a safer digital world for children alongside “relentless” policing to target offenders.

She said the tech sector has “a crucial role to play”, adding: “We need technology companies to act with urgency to make their platforms hostile environments for offenders.

“That means developing and implementing solutions that prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images online, improving the detection of child sexual abuse material and ensuring platforms are built safer by design.”

She also appealed to children and young people to try to understand the risks they may face online, adding: “they must be empowered to make safer choices”.

Ms Riggs said: “Just as importantly, the trusted adults around them – parents, carers, teachers, youth workers – need clear, accessible guidance so they can recognise the signs of harm, have open conversations, and know where to turn for help.