More seek help over abuse images
THE number of Scots seeking help for viewing child abuse images has soared by 1,000 in a year, prompting calls for web giants such as Google and Facebook to do more to crack down on those hosting illegal images.
New research from the Stop it Now! campaign, run by child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, shows that across the UK 36,443 people contacted their scheme last year, up by 40 per cent from the 26,089 potential offenders who sought help in the previous 12 months.
However, Scotland had the largest rise in the UK – up 55% from 1,614 to 2,508.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Scottish Conservatives called for more action from internet firms, and Police Scotland aided the charity’s campaign.
DCI Sarah Taylor, of Police Scotland’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Any form of online child sexual abuse is a serious criminal offence and we use the latest technologies to investigate and identify perpetrators of online child sexual abuse.
“We also recognise that prevention is key and we are currently running a campaign that speaks directly to perpetrators of online child sexual abuse.”
DCI Taylor added: “We have worked with Stop it Now! on that campaign, allowing us to signpost people who are offending, or at risk of doing so, directly to the organisation’s support services.
“While we continue to target perpetrators, we would also urge people to seek support to prevent their offending behaviour.”
Google introduced a series of moves designed to make the internet safer, including algorithmic changes to prevent images, videos and peer-to-peer links to child abuse material from appearing in search, which it says automatically checks against millions of queries.
MSP Annie Wells, equalities spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Anything that reduces the chances of people accessing child abuse images online is welcome.
“This organisation is clearly playing an important role in protecting children and dissuading people across Scotland and the UK from viewing child pornography.
“But we still need to see far more action from the internet platforms that allow these images to be viewed if a meaningful impact is ever to take place.”
An NCA spokesman said: “We need to ensure we are arresting the most determined highest harm offenders, who are harder to prevent from offending and less likely to seek help. The NCA works closely with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, both in the context of the strategic governance arrangements to tackle combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, and in respect of prevent activity.”
Susie Hargreaves, from the Internet Watch Foundation, said: “While these are shocking figures, it is encouraging to see how many offenders out there are wanting to get help and support to stop looking at illegal online images of child sexual abuse.”
A Google spokesman said: “We have a policy of zero tolerance on child abuse images on our platforms and have worked with the IWF for many years to remove illegal images.”
A spokeswoman for Facebook added: “Child exploitative content has no place on Facebook. We take the safety of the people who use it incredibly seriously and work with experts to continue to develop powerful tools to keep this activity off Facebook.”
Any form of online child sexual abuse is a serious criminal offence