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Petition: make it easier for child sexual abuse to spread online

Would you sign this petition?

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A child holds a clipboard with a mock petition headed: make it easier for child sexual abuse to spread online.A child holds a clipboard with a mock petition headed: make it easier for child sexual abuse to spread online.

We hope nobody ever will. Because the tools to find and remove child sexual abuse material already exist. They work. They just need a law behind them. It sounds obvious. Who would argue for making child sexual abuse harder to stop?

And yet, in the coming weeks, the European Parliament could decide to do exactly that. In the name of European citizens. In your name. This page sets out the problem, the framework on the table, why Europe is hesitating - and what you can do about it, whether you are a citizen or a policymaker.

Take action

Together, we can stop child sexual abuse online.

01What is the problem to solve?
02How could a legal framework make the difference?
03Why don't we have this protection at EU level yet?
04What can

you do?
Girl kneeling beside a bed in a messy room with toys, hairbrushes, and clothes scattered on the floor.Girl kneeling beside a bed in a messy room with toys, hairbrushes, and clothes scattered on the floor.

1

What is the problem to solve?

Child sexual abuse material is spreading freely across the internet.

63%

of the child sexual abuse webpages we actioned in 2025 were hosted in EU Member States.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation, 2025

312,000+

webpages containing child sexual abuse imagery removed in 2025.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation, 2025

58%

fewer reports of child sexual abuse from EU services in just 18 weeks, when one major social media platform stopped looking for sexual abuse material in 2020. The abuse did not stop. The ability to find it did.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation, 2025

Take action
Person using computer showing explicit messages and videos in a chat app on screen.Person using computer showing explicit messages and videos in a chat app on screen.

2

How could a legal framework make the difference?

This is not a technical debate. It has real consequences.

Prevent

Stop it before it spreads.

Upload prevention can block material before it is shared again.

Detect

Find what is already out there.

Lets services use tried and tested technologies to find and take down images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children.

Report

Get it to the right people.

Clear rules on who must be told, and how quickly, so that authorities can act.

Remove

Take it down, and keep it down.

Material removed once should not be allowed to reappear elsewhere.

User interface showing a child on a beach in a red bikini with options to change pose and undress, pixelated.User interface showing a child on a beach in a red bikini with options to change pose and undress, pixelated.

03

Why don't we have this protection at EU level yet?

By claims and misinformation that don't reflect the reality of the law.

Myth

Fact

“This means reading everyone’s private messages.”

Matching known abuse material means comparing anonymised digital signatures against verified databases. It does not interpret opinions, track general activity, or read conversations.

Myth

“This means reading everyone’s private messages.”

Fact

Matching known abuse material means comparing anonymised digital signatures against verified databases. It does not interpret opinions, track general activity, or read conversations.

“It would mean weakening encryption.”

Strong encryption and child safety can work together. Privacy-preserving approaches can stop child sexual abuse material from ever being sent, shared, viewed, or bought. This law does not require any service to harm or break encryption.

Myth

“It would mean weakening encryption.”

Fact

Strong encryption and child safety can work together. Privacy-preserving approaches can stop child sexual abuse material from ever being sent, shared, viewed, or bought. This law does not require any service to harm or break encryption.

“The technology will flag innocent people.”

No safety system is risk-free, and nobody should claim otherwise. That is why the answer is high thresholds, trained human review, independent oversight, and a real route to challenge errors.

Myth

“The technology will flag innocent people.”

Fact

No safety system is risk-free, and nobody should claim otherwise. That is why the answer is high thresholds, trained human review, independent oversight, and a real route to challenge errors.

“These tools will be misused.”

These technologies are already used across the platforms you use every day. Databases of known material are maintained by specialists under strict governance, with audit, oversight and purpose limitation designed to prevent exactly that.

Myth

“These tools will be misused.”

Fact

These technologies are already used across the platforms you use every day. Databases of known material are maintained by specialists under strict governance, with audit, oversight and purpose limitation designed to prevent exactly that.

“It is a choice between privacy and protecting children.”

It never was. Rights, proportionality and oversight are not obstacles to protecting children. They are the conditions that make a framework durable and legitimate.

Myth

“It is a choice between privacy and protecting children.”

Fact

It never was. Rights, proportionality and oversight are not obstacles to protecting children. They are the conditions that make a framework durable and legitimate.

4

What can you do, as a citizen or as a policymaker ?

Europe is writing the rules, right now.

Step 1 - May 2022

Proposed

The European Commission proposes a permanent law to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online.

Step 2 - 2023 to 2025

Positions taken

The European Parliament and EU governments each set their own negotiating position. They don't agree.

Step 3 - We are here

Under negotiation

Parliament, Council and Commission are negotiating the final text behind closed doors. Talks broke down in June. They resume this autumn. This is the moment the law is being decided.

Step 4 - Expected in the coming month

The final vote

Once negotiators reach a deal, MEPs vote on the final law. Whatever is in the text by then is what Europe will have to live with whatever we end up with.

These are the MEPs elected by citizens across the Union, and the people who will decide what the final law says.

720
seats

Here is what you can do to stop child sexual abuse material spreading online.

If you are a citizen

"Ask your MEP where they stand. Write to them directly from this site, in two minutes.

  • Find the people who represent you, choose a message, and send it from your own email.
  • Share the campaign. The more visible this choice is, the harder it is to make quietly.
  • Talk about it. Most people have no idea this decision is being taken.
Take action

If you are a policymaker

Request the policy briefing for the evidence base, the legal detail and the answers to technical questions.

  • Support a framework that enables detection, reporting and removal, with clear safeguards and oversight.
  • Make your position public. Abstaining is still a choice.
  • Talk to us. IWF analysts can brief your team directly.
Request the briefing

Find the people who represent you

Choose a message, and send it from your own email. It takes two minutes.

Write to your MEP

Use this campaign.
Share it.

Please share to make sure your voice is heard.

ZIP · 2 documents · 2.6 MB

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For Policymakers & Press

Press Release and background policy briefing

PDF · 2.4 MB

Download

For partners

Everything your organisation needs to support the campaign.