Over 70 million warnings sent to people attempting to access child sex abuse content

More than 70 million warnings have been sent to people trying to access child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online in the past two years, a leading charity has said.

The digital messages were sent as part of a screening process that attempts to direct potential criminals to encourage and prevent them from accessing harmful and illegal content.

Founded by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), the initiative, called Project Intercept, is a partnership between the charity and tech giants such as Meta, TikTok and Google.

The project works by triggering alerts when people use search terms that indicate they are looking for sexual images of children or click on links that have previously been reported to contain sexual images of children.

If interested, the messages direct people to self-help resources designed to help them stop accessing illegal material.

The charity said an average of 28,000 users were directed to Stop It Now self-help resources each month in 2024 and 2025 through various gaming, social media, dating, streaming and AI platforms.

He added that the 22 messages reached users from 131 different countries and approximately 700,000 people clicked to get support.

A user nicknamed Ben was directed to the resources after his searches triggered one of Project Intercept’s messages.

“After I got the alert, I looked at Stop It Now,” he said. “I found the modules on addiction and pornography very useful. I gave up on adult sites about two months ago. I want to keep my mind busy and more productive.”

Lucy Faithfull Foundation CEO Deborah Denis said the project showed the potential to scale this approach was “tremendous”.

“By placing more warnings in more online spaces, we can disrupt harmful behavior as it happens and prevent countless children from harm,” he said.

“This need has never been more urgent, especially as new artificial intelligence technologies accelerate the spread of online child sexual exploitation.”

She added we “must not leave children to protect themselves” and said it is the responsibility of adults, and especially tech companies, to keep them safe.

“We have proven that it is possible for tech companies to intervene effectively, prevent people from searching for illegal and exploitative images of children, and empower them to help change,” he continued.

“These warnings don’t just block harmful content; they provide a clear path for support and behavior change.

“We are now calling on tech companies to work with us to scale what works and prevent harm before it happens.”