IWF 2003 Annual Report launches today
We are pleased to deliver our 2003 Annual Report that highlights the success of the UK model in minimising the availability of child abuse images online; the central remit of the IWF.
The IWF internet hotline processed approximately 20,000 reports in 2003, a 9% increase on the previous year. That equates to 400 reports of potentially illegal content every week or 80 reports every day.
In 1997, a few months after the inception of the IWF, 18% of potentially illegal content was hosted by UK ISPs now that figure is now less than 1%.
There are four very good reasons why this has happened:
- tough laws that prohibit any form of possession or distribution of child abuse images with strong sanctions if individuals transgress;
- a sophisticated system to transfer intelligence and information from the IWF to the Police for them to investigate;
- a very receptive and amenable ISP community who fund the IWF and take down potentially illegal content immediately they are advised of the problem
- an astute public who complain loudly when they are exposed to potentially illegal, harmful and unwanted content.
Unfortunately, our records show that 55% of child abuse content is hosted in the US, where there is no effective notice and take down system and very few US ISPs have registered with the US equivalent of the IWF to try and deal with the problem of potentially illegal child abuse content.
In addition, 23% of child abuse content is traced to Russia, where we believe the laws are incompatible with UK legislation, when defining potentially illegal child abuse content.
Significant Trends:
- Overall reports up 9% to 20,000
- 400 reports of potentially illegal content are processed every week
- 80 reports of potentially illegal material are processed every day
- 99% of illegal content is traced to outside the UK
- UK hosted potentially illegal content down from 18% to 1% since 1997.
- Child abuse content traced to USA now amounts to 55%
- Child abuse content traced to Russia up 5% to 23%
- Child abuse content traced to Europe down from 19% to 6%
- Racial incitement reports up 101% to 302
- Potentially illegal content traced to newsgroups down by 62%
- 500,000 newsgroup images no longer available per ISP per annum
- Newsgroups regularly hosting child abuse images = 24
- Newsgroup names that are potentially illegal = 71
- Intelligence passed to Police up 14%
- A third of incoming child abuse reports are confirmed as potentially illegal
- Pay per view websites hosting potentially illegal child abuse images = 33 per week
- Websites hosting potentially illegal child abuse images = 66 per week
We would welcome further international co-operation and consensus on replicating the UK model overseas.
Our thanks goes to two IWF funding members; Ask Jeeves and Freeserve for their generous sponsorship of the design and print of this report and to Brownstone Design, the designers.
If you would like to receive a copy of the 2003 IWF Annual Report, please email media@iwf.org.uk
Created: Mon, March 22nd, 2004 | Last Modified: Fri, April 1st, 2005
