Large increase in number of child abuse images investigated by organisation online

A quarter of reports last year by the public to Hotline.ie, the Irish centre for combatting illegal content online, related to cases involving “hundreds and thousands” of child sexual abuse images and videos.

There was a 142 per cent increase in the amount of child sexual abuse material which appeared to have been “self-generated”, according to its annual report published on Tuesday.

“The material predominately featured girls under the age of 15 engaging in explicit sexual activity on webcams. Hotline.is Analysts also noted that signs of coercion or grooming were often present.”

Half of the child sexual abuse sources included video content, a 55 per cent increase on the previous year’s figures.

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Hotline.ie is the Irish national reporting centre where members of the public can anonymously and confidentially report suspected illegal content online, especially child sexual abuse content and activities relating to online child sexual exploitation. It works in partnership with An Garda Síochána.

Almost 80 per cent of all child sexual abuse identified by the organisation in 2020 showed pre-pubescent children estimated to be aged between four and 12 years.

Seven per cent showed children estimated to be aged three and younger and 15 per cent of pubescent children aged 13 to 16 years.

The report said 42 per cent of child sexual abuse reports related to content that was indicative of being in commercial nature with Hotline.ie believing that it had been produced or was being used for the purpose of financial gain by the distributor.

Last year, the organisation traced child sexual abuse material to 31 countries worldwide, with 56 per cent of the content hosted in Europe.

Ana Niculescu, chief executive of Hotline.ie, said early on in the Covid-19 pandemic the centre was identified as an essential service which meant it was able to “provide uninterrupted hotline service throughout the period of public health emergency”.

“Handling harmful and illegal content online should not be undertaken outside a secure office environment, more so working in a home setting,” she said.

“While the current pandemic has given rise to a unique set of circumstances, its ripple effect is yet to be fully understood, and it is most likely that we will be dealing with it for a great period of time.”