Inside the Organization That Rids the Internet of Child Sex Abuse

This article originally appeared on VICE UK.

Until you reach the hotline room, there are few clues as to what's actually going on at the Internet Watch Foundation's Cambridgeshire headquarters.

The organization's office has all the hallmarks of any other modern, nondescript workplace: a handful of awards in a cabinet in the lobby; a table tennis table in the break room; and cheap Christmas decorations hanging over a few of the desks. But to reach the hotline room—the epicenter of the office—you've got to pass through a series of doors, deposit all electronic and recording equipment (phones included) into secure lockers, ring a bell, and wait to be invited in.

With special legal dispensation to engage in illegal activity online, it makes sense that the 13 analysts on the other side of all that security need to do their work behind closed doors. Frankly, you wouldn't want to wander in accidentally and see what might be on their screens.

Research conducted in 2017 found that 76 percent of 18 to 24-year-old men would report an indecent image of a child online. The biggest barrier preventing them from doing so is not knowing how or what to report. "It's very useful for people to report to us," says Henri. "It's important that if you come across these images, you report them—and it can be done anonymously. We don’t require contact details, although you’re welcome to leave them if you want feedback. That one report—even if you're unlucky to stumble across it—might see you save a child from sexual abuse."

That's where the IWF’s reporting site comes in. As long as it’s legal, what you get up to on your computer is of no concern to anyone. But the internet doesn’t always do exactly what we ask of it. The IWF isn't asking us to be vigilantes, setting out to find this stuff ourselves—far from it; to do so would be illegal. But if you happen to accidentally come across what you suspect might be child sex abuse while browsing, make sure to report it before closing the tab down. Who knows what it might lead to.

Find out more here.

*Name has been changed for security reasons.

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