Child sex abuse image crimes rise by almost 10% in a year', NSPCC says

"Between April 1 2024 and March 31 2025, a total of 36,829 offences involving indecent and prohibited images of children were recorded across the UK, a rise of nine per cent on the previous year. This alarming figure, gathered from responses by 42 of the 45 UK police forces to a Freedom of Information request, represents a notable rise from the 33,886 offences documented in the previous year."

"The NSPCC said this must be made mandatory, with the Government urged to take action against tech companies if they fail to embed existing technology on children's phones that blocks nude images from being created, shared or viewed. The charity said these device-level protections should be embedded by default, meaning children are automatically protected and adult users could go through a process to opt out."

"Such technology can block a nude image taken, sent or received on a device, and the NSPCC said that because the image is never created or sent in the first place, there is nothing to encrypt and that this method can stop abuse at source."

UK police forces recorded 36,829 offences involving indecent and prohibited images of children between April 2024 and March 2025, representing a 10 percent increase from the previous year. The NSPCC warns that young people face persistent threats including grooming, extortion, online abuse, and non-consensual image sharing. The government's Violence Against Women and Girls strategy aims to make it impossible for UK children to take, share, or view nude images. However, the NSPCC argues these protections must be mandatory rather than voluntary. The charity advocates for device-level technology that blocks nude images by default, with adults able to opt out. This approach prevents abuse at source by stopping images before creation or transmission, eliminating the need for encryption.

Read at www.independent.co.uk