The screen goes dark for a second. The room is in shadow. Somewhere, a child is crying. From the glittering headquarters of global tech giants to the darkest corners of online chatrooms, the Internet Watch Foundation takes you down the rabbit hole, lifting the lid on the global scandal of countless child sexual abuse images and videos being shared on the open web every day. The investigation begins here. Join us as we meet the victims, the police, the charities, the experts, and even the criminals at the frontline of this global battle raging behind the screen. The battle to keep children safe and protect them from the very worst abuse at the hands of some of the most depraved criminals. Each week, Pixels from a Crime Scene delves deeper into this clandestine world, shining a spotlight on what really goes on online and why images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children are still spreading across the open web.
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Internet Watch Foundation
Internet Watch Foundation
Pixels From A Crime Scene
Episode 1: There's No Such Thing As Child Pornography
A young man closes his laptop. He checks his phone. He ties his trainers. He’s on his way out to meet some mates. He is also a sexual predator.
He is part of a “new generation” of online abusers, with police warning that more and more 18 to 25 year-old men in the UK are viewing child abuse online and even “directing” the abuse of children.
In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, host Angela Young meets Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the IWF, Fred Langford, the IWF’s Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Technical Officer, Simon Bailey, the National Police Chief Councils’ (NPCC) lead on child protection, and John Carr OBE, Internet Safety and Security Consultant.
She looks at the realities facing those leading the fight against the criminals who view, share and even trade child sexual abuse imagery online, and confronts us with some uncomfortable truths about the changing face of online abusers.
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Episode 2: It's Not Just An Image
It’s a global industry, and it preys on children.
A young girl is online. She makes a friend, and soon they’re chatting, making jokes together and having a good time.
But that friend is not who they say they are. Soon, the girl is being terrorized, coerced, bullied, and blackmailed into sending explicit images of herself to the stranger. All from her own bedroom in the family home.
And then it gets worse.
In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we talk to Rhiannon, a survivor of child sexual abuse, who was groomed by a predator on the internet when she was just 13. We expose how criminals are luring young victims into dangerous situations, and ask how safe are our children online?
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Episode 3: If You're Watching, You're An Offender
The problem we are facing is staggering. Some experts warn 1% of the entire male population could have an interest in sex with prepubescent children.
But what do you do when that problem is in your very own home? When someone you know is watching children being raped, tortured and sexually abused online? Someone you had trusted?
In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we hear how addiction to criminal material tears families apart. We see how there is no such thing as a victimless crime where online child sexual abuse material is concerned, and how those viewing images and videos are complicit in the most horrendous abuse of innocent children.
Find out more and donate to the IWF at iwf.org.uk
Support the show (https://www.iwf.org.uk/support-iwf-and-help-make-internet-a-safer-place)
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Episode 4: It's Not All On The Dark Web
So, you think videos and pictures of children being sexually abused and raped only exist on the dark web? Think again. The epidemic of criminal content is out there on the open internet. It’s being shared in apps we all use and can be found on sites where we all think everyone is safe. In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we hop on plane. From the Netherlands to the USA we follow the digital thread and see how sometimes the worst crimes are being perpetrated out in the open, sometimes in plain sight. We speak to investigative journalist and author/host of The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast Jamie Bartlett who takes us through the good and bad elements of the dark web.
The epidemic of criminal content is out there on the open internet. It’s being shared in apps we all use and can be found on sites where we all think everyone is safe.
In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we hop on plane. From the Netherlands to the USA we follow the digital thread and see how sometimes the worst crimes are being perpetrated out in the open, sometimes in plain sight.
We speak to investigative journalist and author/host of The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast Jamie Bartlett who takes us through the good and bad elements of the dark web.
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Episode 5: The Industry Can't Solve It Alone
Behind the screen, a battle is raging. You can’t see it. You may not even know it’s taking place. That’s the point. The Internet Watch Foundation works hard to make sure you never see some of the worst images of children being sexually abused. Every day, they see these videos, and they fight to get them taken down, and they work with governments, businesses, and law enforcement all around the world to make sure criminals have no place to hide. But could things be about to get worse? In this episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we explore what tech companies are doing in the global battle against child sexual abuse material, and how new online encryption could expose millions more to some of the worst material on the internet.
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Episode 6: It's Not Too Big A Problem To Solve
You shut down the laptop and watch the screen go black. What we’ve learned together has been shocking. But the criminals haven’t won. Far from it. Where there are the worst crimes, there is also the strongest resolve. While we see appalling abuse, we know there is also hope. In this, the final episode of Pixels from a Crime Scene, we set our sights on the future. A new, talented tech-savvy generation could hold the key to making the internet safe again for everyone, while an “army of digital detectives” could turn the tide against those who would exploit and abuse children. It is already happening. The Internet Watch Foundation is leading the charge to rid the internet of child sexual abuse material, and it is not alone. We know we can only do this if governments, companies, charities, law enforcement, and people all work together. We know it is possible. We know we can do it.
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