EU leaders have failed to tackle child sexual abuse crisis online

The next EU Parliament needs to act quickly and decisively to end the crisis of child sexual abuse material found online, legislation for which has stalled, writes Sabine Saliba.  

Sabine Saliba is the secretary general of Eurochild, a network of organisations and individuals working on ​children’s rights​​​ in Europe.  

As Europe’s voters head to the polls to decide on the next EU Parliament, a ​crucial​ issue on ​their ​minds is the growing ​amount ​of child sexual abuse material found online.  

We are calling on MEP candidates and the EU leadership in the next mandate to act swiftly and decisively to tackle the crisis online, particularly given ​that ​64% of ​child sexual abuse ​material is hosted on European servers​, including Russia and Turkey.​ 

For the past two years, EU leaders have deliberated on the details of crucial legislation designed to combat child sexual abuse online. Meanwhile, the online sexual solicitation of children increased by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023.   

​​In that time, c​​​onservative estimates say that almost 200 million pieces of content, images or videos, featuring a child being sexually abused, have been reported to be circulating widely on the ​internet​.  

That’s three pieces of content shared online every second. 

Abuse has escalated to record levels, fueled by the ever-increasing presence of the internet in children’s lives. Through online networks and platforms, perpetrators have direct access to children, with the freedom to sexually exploit and extort them. Videos and pictures of children being sexually abused are easily accessed and shared.   

More than 50% of EU citizens say that they would be more likely to vote for their representative if they supported a law to protect children from online child sexual abuse and exploitation, found an ECPAT poll.

Last year, a petition calling for the EU to pass laws to tackle child sexual violence was signed by over 540,000 people. Over 200 MEP candidates have signed a manifesto committing to put children’s rights at the heart of their mandate – a very positive commitment ​which needs ​to be followed up with concrete action to tackle this crisis. 

If EU leaders don’t listen to their constituents, the child sexual abuse crisis will continue to escalate. In the time it has taken for Europe’s current leadership to consider the current proposal, the fight against child sexual abuse has become even more complex.   

A particular challenge is the rise of text-to-image based generative AI. The Internet Watch Foundation found 20,254 AI-generated images on just one dark web forum devoted to child sexual abuse material in a single month. In May​ ​, a man​ in the US ​was charged with generating 13,000 pictures of children being sexually abused. 

Teenage boys in Spain created naked images of girls in their class using AI nudifying technology, and shared them on WhatsApp and Telegram. They didn’t realise they were committing an offence in generating child sexual abuse material. 

These technologies are further demonstration of why Europe needs to act now to prevent more children falling victim to abusers online. 

New research which gathered insights from 500 children and 6,000 caregivers across the EU shows that children feel alone in ensuring their safety online. There is an alarming normalisation of these risks online – one child from the Netherlands said: “If you want to be safe online, you shouldn’t be on social media.”  

It is unacceptable that children have been left to fend for themselves online. We must allow children to have their childhood free from coercive and manipulative abuse.  

Many platforms have been using technologies​ for years​ that flag ​child sexual abuse ​material. An EU-wide law is essential to ensure that they are used by all companies consistently, which is why the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation was introduced two years ago.  

By delaying the passing of this law, MEPs and EU governments have effectively enabled perpetrators to engage unrestricted in the sexual abuse of children online. 

The EU elections will bring a fresh start, and the new leadership must use this opportunity to ensure that they do not fail children in the way the previous mandate has.