More than 2,000 child sexual abuse image crimes logged by Welsh police forces last year

More than 2,000 child sexual abuse image crimes were logged by police forces in Wales in the past year, equating to around six per day.

South Wales Police recorded 964 crimes, North Wales 535, Gwent 503 and Dyfed Powys 192, according to Home Office data.

A separate Freedom of Information request submitted by the NSPCC to police forces across England and Wales last year revealed that of the offences where the police recorded the platform used, exactly half (50%) took place on Snapchat and a quarter on Meta products – 11% on Instagram, 7% on Facebook and 6% on WhatsApp.

In response to the data, a joint letter from charities, including the NSPCC, Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, and Barnardo’s, has been sent to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle, urging action to strengthen the communications services watchdog’s current approach to private messaging.

Online Safety Act

The letter expresses concern regarding Ofcom’s final Illegal Harms Code of Practice published in December 2024, with the charities arguing that as it stands, children will not be protected from the worst forms of abuse on private messaging services, despite this being a core aim of the Online Safety Act.

Ofcom has stated that user-to-user services are only required to remove illegal content where it is ‘technically feasible’.

The charities say this exception creates an “unacceptable loophole”, allowing some services to avoid delivering the most basic protections for children.

Data from police forces on the number of recorded offences where the platform was known indicates private messaging sites are involved in more crimes than any other type of platform, with perpetrators exploiting the secrecy offered by these spaces to harm children and go undetected.

The NSPCC is also calling for private messaging services, including those using end-to-end encryption, to make sure there are robust safeguards in place to ensure their platforms do not act as a ‘safe haven’ for perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Distress

Chris Sherwood, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “These offences cause tremendous harm and distress to children, with much of this illegal material being repeatedly shared and viewed online. It is an outrage that in 2025 we are still seeing a blatant disregard from tech companies to prevent this illegal content from proliferating on their sites.

“Having separate rules for private messaging services lets tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place. This enables crimes to continue to flourish on their platforms even though we now have the Online Safety Act.”

“The Government must set out how they will take a bold stand against abuse on private messaging services and hold tech companies accountable for keeping children safe, even if it requires changes to the platform’s design – there can be no excuse for inaction or delay. ”

Wording

Last month, The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a charity which proactively finds and helps remove child sexual abuse material from the internet, also raised concerns about the wording of the codes of practice, calling it a “blatant get-out clause” for platforms and could be used to help them evade compliance with online safety laws.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “The law says that measures in our codes of practice must be technically feasible.

“However, we expect the vast majority of platforms will be able to take content down and we will hold them to account if they don’t.

“There’ll be measures all platforms will need to take to protect children, such as reviewing child sexual abuse material when they become aware of it and reporting it to law enforcement.”