- Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes has called on tech firms to develop phones that prevent children from taking nude photographs of themselves, urging the industry to take more proactive control over online child safety.
- Jukes emphasised that a substantial amount of indecent imagery of children online stems from self-generated photos taken on their own devices, often under exploitation, highlighting the need for devices that empower parents with greater control over image capture.
- Police recorded 35,388 indecent images of children in 2024, which accounted for 29 per cent of all child sexual abuse and exploitation offences, illustrating the widespread nature of the issue.
- The Report Remove helpline experienced an 83 per cent rise in confirmed child sexual abuse imagery reports last year, with 1,175 cases, following a record number of British children reporting themselves as victims of sextortion.
- The Met Police is also considering using AI to enhance the grading process for child sexual abuse images, aiming to minimise officers' exposure to distressing material, while Mumsnet has launched a child-safe smartphone, 'The Other Phone', to address these safety concerns.
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