Gibraltar and other UK Overseas Territories have joined forces with the Internet Watch Foundation to fight online child sexual abuse imagery.

Gibraltar today launches a dedicated IWF Reporting Portal that will allow web users to report images and videos of child sexual abuse safely and anonymously. The launch comes as part of an IWF initiative made possible through funding from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Cyber Security Capacity Building Programme.

The portal will provide a quick and easy way for the public to report any online images and videos of child sexual abuse they may come across, via a safe and anonymous hotline.

The Reporting Portal can be accessed at: www.report.iwf.org.uk/gi as well as via the reporting button that is located within the main page of the RGP website www.police.gi.

A planned roll-out of the IWF Reporting Portal is happening today simultaneously across 12 UK Overseas Territories:

 Akrotiri and Dhekelia

 Anguilla

 Ascension Islands

 Bermuda

 British Virgin Islands (BVI)

 Cayman Islands

 Gibraltar

 Montserrat

 Pitcairn Islands

 Tristan Da Cunha

 Turks and Caicos

 St Helena

Susie Hargreaves, IWF CEO said: “It’s great that Gibraltar has joined this ground-breaking initiative, to provide a first class Reporting Portal to protect their citizens. Child sexual abuse imagery is a global problem and we can only fight it with a truly global solution.”

What is the IWF Reporting Portal?

By working closely with internet companies, the IWF helps people who stumble across online child sexual abuse images and videos (sometimes known as child pornography) to report it anonymously, via a web-based reporting hotline.

A team of experienced IWF analysts then work directly with the internet industry and law enforcement, to have any abusive imagery removed quickly. The advantage of establishing an IWF Reporting Portal is that any reports of suspected online child sexual abuse imagery generated in Gibraltar will be assessed directly by one of IWF’s analysts. These analysts are respected globally for their experience.

Today, the IWF Hotline provides one of the most successful reporting mechanisms in the world. When they were founded 20 years ago, 18% of the world’s online child sexual abuse imagery was hosted in the UK. Thanks to their analysts, that figure is now 0.2%. These analysts are considered world- leaders for their expertise.

Harriet Lester, the IWF’s Technical Projects Officer who has been working with the Royal Gibraltar Police said: “The launch of the Reporting Portal in Gibraltar is a huge step toward our mission to remove child abuse images and video from the internet completely. “The response from people here has been overwhelmingly positive and we're looking forward to helping them make their corner of the internet a safer place.”

The IWF in Gibraltar

The IWF has worked closely with the Royal Gibraltar Police to extend this valuable global network to Gibraltar. UK Minister for the Overseas Territories, James Duddridge said that “This demonstrates the Overseas Territories commitment to protecting children from harm and builds on the excellent work of the Internet Watch Foundation, who remove child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world. I am delighted the FCO, through our Cyber Security Capacity Building programme, have been able to support this.”

Commissioner of Police Eddie Yome commented: "Cyber crime is a growing problem for police forces worldwide, and Gibraltar is no exception. We remain committed to preventing cyber crime and protecting our communities with the assistance of local and international partners. The rise of social media and new technology have been some of the biggest contributory factors to the change in the global policing landscape over the past couple of years and there is no doubting that it brings with it some very difficult challenges, especially at a time when our resources are under increased pressure and demand.

”I also cannot stress enough the importance of a joined up approach to this issue and as a result, we continue to focus on effective partnership working to ensure we are better educated and prepared to successfully address the growing demands of the digital age. This latest partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation is an example of our efforts in support of the Annual Policing plan. The IWF perform an outstanding job in minimising the availability of child sexual abuse images online, through an effective network of trusted international partnerships with law enforcement, industry and voluntary sectors”.

For his part Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, commented: “On behalf of HM Government of Gibraltar I wholeheartedly welcome the launch of this important initiative. I am particularly pleased that it is being rolled out across 12 Overseas Territories and that Gibraltar is playing its full part in making the internet a safer place for everyone. I also wish to thank the RGP for carrying out this work in conjunction with the Internet Watch Foundation.”

What IWF do:

Online child sexual abuse images and videos are a very real problem across the globe. The IWF brings together governments, law enforcement, the online industry and civil society to do what’s needed to eliminate images of child sexual abuse from the Internet. In 2015 (figures published in April 2016) the IWF positively identified 68, 092 reports of child sexual abuse images or videos, which it then helped remove from the internet. From that figure, 69% of the victims were assessed as ten years old or under. 1,788 victims were assessed as two or under. Just over one third were category A – the rape or sexual torture of children. Removing these abusive images from the internet makes it a safer place for all.

IWF make the internet a safer place. They help victims of child sexual abuse worldwide by identifying and removing online images and videos of their abuse. They search for child sexual abuse images and videos and offer a place for the public to report them anonymously.

Then then have them removed. They’re a not for profit organisation and are supported by the global internet industry and the European Commission.

For more information please visit www.iwf.org.uk.

The IWF is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, working with Childnet International and the South West Grid for Learning to promote the safe and responsible use of technology.