IWF data shows 63% of global child abuse content hosted in the EU
The EU hosts the majority of abuse webpages as IWF urges urgent regulatory action.
New data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) points to a stark imbalance in global online child protection, with the EU member states hosting the majority of confirmed child sexual abuse material URLs identified by the organisation. In 2025, IWF analysts actioned 310,437 URLs, with 63% traced to hosting services in the EU member states.
A small cluster of countries, including Bulgaria and the Netherlands, accounted for a large share of that hosting concentration, highlighting structural vulnerabilities in hosting infrastructure and uneven enforcement across jurisdictions. The IWF notes that such concentrations often reflect a combination of high-volume sites, migration between hosting locations, and inconsistent takedown speeds.
These findings come shortly after the EU failed to preserve legal continuity for the temporary framework that had allowed companies to carry out certain voluntary detection measures while negotiations on a permanent child sexual abuse law continued. That lapse has intensified concerns about a widening gap between the scale of online abuse and the legal tools available to detect and disrupt it.
The IWF argues that fragmented regulation and uneven infrastructure responses make it easier for criminal content to persist online. Where abuse material remains concentrated on a few high-volume sites in jurisdictions with slower or less consistent takedown practices, it stays accessible for longer and is more likely to be copied, redistributed, or reposted elsewhere.
By contrast, takedown performance can vary sharply across jurisdictions. The UK accounted for just 951 actioned URLs in 2025, or 0.30% of the total, a figure the IWF links to a much stronger domestic removal framework and closer operational cooperation.
The broader message of the data is that child sexual abuse material cannot be tackled effectively through fragmented national responses alone. The IWF is using the figures to press for a more coherent international framework for detection, reporting, and removal, warning that without aligned rules and stronger accountability, systemic weaknesses in digital governance will continue to leave serious gaps in child protection.
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