Examining the scale of child sexual abuse and how we can make a difference. Every year we present statistical insights from our network of member hotlines, processing reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and that data sheds light on the scale of the abuse worldwide.

Over 780,000 reports were processed by the INHOPE Network in 2023. These reports come from the public who submit content URLs that they suspect contain child sexual abuse or exploitation.

Every reported content URL could include an image or video victimising a child.

The scale of this issue becomes clear every year as we examine the data from the INHOPE network. This is why our focus lies with the people who are removing harmful material online, and the technology we utilise to drive effectiveness in our efforts to achieve our mission of a digital world free of CSAM.

The Facts

• 785.322 public reports of suspected child sexual abuse material
• 69% of the public reports were classified as illegal (an increase from 68% in 2022). That’s over 540,000 content URLs containing confirmed CSAM.
• 88% of reports contain new content, requiring assessment by analysts.
• 39% of reports are from image hosting sites.
• 9 out of 10 victims are young girls.
• 8 out of 10 victims are aged 3-13.

We must remember that these numbers represent real victims, and the role of hotlines is vital to victim identification and preventing revictimization. Of the over 780,000 reports processed by our analysts, 82% classified as CSAM were reported to national law enforcement within three days. To understand the trends behind the data, download your copy of the Annual Report 2023 here.

The Impact of the Network

• 4 new member hotlines from Slovakia, Argentina, Ukraine and Moldova joined the network, expanding the global footprint of the organisation. Ukraine and Moldova joined with support from Safe Online.
• 5 new funding partners: Grayshift, Tether, Twitch, Discord and Yubo.
• 80 online meetings with organisations looking to set up a hotline
• Communication playbook launched in 10 languages: a step-by-step guide for hotlines on how to create and implement a communications strategy funded by Safe Online
• 404 participants were trained by INHOPE: 71 analysts followed INHOPE Basic Training, 42 followed INHOPE advanced training, 58 analysts enrolled on the Online Learning and over 200 law enforcement officers were trained on INHOPE, staff welfare and content tracing.
• 25 staff members as the INHOPE team continues to grow
• 200 hotline members participated during the two Hotline Training Meetings under the Better Internet for Kids Programme.
• Launch of the Indo-Pacific Chapter (IPC) with a group of 8 Asia-Pacific hotlines that will focus on expanding regionalised support and knowledge exchange.
• 300+ attendees at the Annual INHOPE Summit to explore our theme of “Partnering
  Product with Policy.”
• 660+ attendees at our webinar series “Expert Insights” on various online child protection themes.
• Launch of the Universal Classification Schema: The schema was created with input from an International Working Group consisting of more than 80 experts from the child protection sector.
• Launch of Project CPORT: the main objective is to build a law enforcement portal into ICCAM to support hotlines in exchanging data and intelligence with their national law enforcement agencies more quickly and safely.
• Under a Google grant, INHOPE held two regional INTERPOL trainings.
• ICCAM was upgraded to a new application programming interface (API), allowing hotlines to connect to ICCAM on a system-to-system level in a more standardised way. Additionally, the platform was expanded to support a multi-module architecture, as a result, we have built a law enforcement-specific module.

The impact of the work we do is relative to the communities we reach. The protection of children is what fuels our motivation to develop a sustainable approach to tackling CSAM through education, prevention, removal and prosecution. We are tackling a lack of societal understanding as well as outdated legislation across the world that can only be addressed at a national level. Obsolete laws and bureaucratic hurdles are best overcome by establishing a local hotline that can collaborate with key stakeholders across government, legislation and education to create change.

We all recognise the enormity of this task which is why in 2023 INHOPE was extensively involved in advocacy and outreach activity in support of the Draft EU CSAM Regulation. Bringing a wealth of diverse knowledge and expertise to the community, we found it essential to include hotlines in the Draft Regulation.

“Now as we head into 2024, we will continue this trajectory toward our vision of a digital world free from child sexual abuse material.” - INHOPE Executive Director, Denton Howard


Get to know the Network, discover our plans for the future and learn more about INHOPE through our INHOPE Annual Report 2023. To get your copy and access the full report – click here.