Last year saw a 136 per cent increase in identified and subsequently removed child abuse imagery, according to a just-released report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). In its Annual Report for 2014, the body revealed that its new ability to actively seek out criminal content has been effective in allowing it to …

ExclusiveThe implementation of network-level filters by all of the UK's biggest ISPs has contributed to a worrying side effect: it appears to be forcing peddlers of child sexual abuse images to seek different ways of distributing the illegal material. Apparently these increasingly include hacks into the websites of businesses whose …

Google has pledged a further $2m (£1.27m) to encourage the development of tools that seek and destroy online child sex abuse material. The advertising giant is keen to prove to the British government and the popular press that it's doing all it can to eradicate the vile images and videos from the web. By throwing money at the …

Google has donated £1m to the Internet Watch Foundation, after the ad giant had previously dropped tiny annual payments of around £20,000 into the child sex abuse charity's collection bucket. The move comes ahead of a meeting in Whitehall between Culture Secretary Maria Miller and a number of US-based internet companies …

The Internet Watch Foundation has made improvement of international co-operation a key objective in the next phase of its fight against the online distribution of child abuse content. Establishing an international arm to fight paedophile content is at the centre of the Internet Watch Foundation’s (IWF) new three-year strategy …

The Internet Watch Foundation has no intention of becoming the UK government's net police, its new boss has declared. Speaking to El Reg in her first interview in her new role at the IWF, Susie Hargreaves also revealed the need for greater openness, independence and transparency at the anti-child sex abuse organisation. The …

A row is brewing today between government and ISPs following suggestions that greater informal policing of internet content might be needed, along with a new self-regulatory body to carry out the task. The proposal arose as Culture Minister Ed Vaizey spoke at the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) 2010 Annual Report launch …

The number of URLs hosting child abuse content has risen significantly over the last year – but the scale of the problem has not changed, and take-down time has improved dramatically. Those were the highlights of yesterday's Internet Watch Foundation 2010 Annual Report (PDF/3.9MB) presented to an assembly of the great and the …

Cuddly, child-loving web forum, mumsnet was last night licking its wounds after a page providing fairly uncritical support for government proposals to censor the web was first mauled by geek attack – and then taken down. However, in a swift repositioning, mumsnet have now come out as part of the search for a solution, rather …

Peter Robbins has stepped down as Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation after almost nine years heading up the occasionally controversial organisation. An announcement slipped out quietly yesterday to the effect that after some eight years steering the IWF through some of its most challenging years in the public eye …

ISPs are battling proposals by officials in Brussels that would force them to block access to child pornography, arguing that such systems only hide the problem. The European Commission has drafted new laws that will be voted on by the European Parliament next month. The technical solutions envisaged are broadly based on …

Members of the European Parliament have cast doubt on plans to move to community-wide blocking of child sexual abuse images. The Civil Liberties Committee questioned whether such blocking would be effective and whether different legal traditions across Europe would make such blocking impossible. Alexander Alvaro (Alliance of …

The government has today launched a review of its controversial "Prevent" counter-terrorism strategy, which includes measures to tackle extremist material online. The wide-ranging review could lead to greater censorship of the web. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said today: "I believe the Prevent programme isn't working as …

Arguments over just how successful government attempts have been in keeping child porn off the internet may be little more than a storm in a teacup – but such discussions highlight a shift in the way indecent material may be blocked in future. The story begins with a shocking claim from internet filtering company, Watchdog …

The government has abandoned its long-standing pledge to force 100 per cent of internet providers to block access to a list of child pornography websites. The decision to drop the policy will be finalised at a meeting on Monday to be attended by internet industry representatives, children's charities and Alun Michael MP. The …

An all-party group of MPs has recommended mandatory nanny filters for all mobile devices and data devices that can access the internet - and wants the UK's Internet Watch Foundation secretive censor system extended to the whole world. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Communications (Apcomms) today recommends: "A global ' …

InterviewPeter Robbins, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) comes across as a genial politician – and a through-and-through pragmatist. He is in no way the moralising, censorious villain that some of the internet’s more Libertarian anti-censorship lobby would make him out to be. For all the bonhomie, there is a …

The activities, alleged activities, and destiny of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) are a constant source of controversy in these parts, so our interest was naturally piqued by a Parliamentary question from the shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones last week. In a written question, she asked her government …