A record number of reports of suspected illegal online material, the majority of which related to child sexual abuse, were made in 2023.
Hotline.ie, the national reporting platform for illegal content on the internet, said on Thursday that it received 40,543 reports of suspected illegal content in 2023. This was the highest number of reports in its history and a 30 per cent increase compared to 2022.
Of those report, 29,906 reports were confirmed to contain illegal material. The majority of those reports – 29,044 – related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This represented a 110 per cent increase on CSAM identified by the platform compared to 2022. The report noted a rise in self-generated CSAM content as a “troubling trend”.
Hotline.ie also identified 470 reports of intimate image abuse, and succeeded in removing 95 per cent of that content from the internet, despite it being hosted outside of Ireland. Intimate image abuse is the sharing of an intimate image without consent, and is a crime.
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The platform enjoyed a 99 per cent success rate in removing illegal content it identified on the internet.
Hotline.ie chief and former Garda detective Mick Moran said that the platform’s mission has always been to “disrupt the cycle of child sexual abuse online, prevent re-victimisation, and support law enforcement in bringing offenders to justice”.
“This vital work is made possible through the unwavering support of our partners, including founding member Eir, and the growing engagement from the public, who continue to report illegal content in increasing numbers,” he said.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that while the report’s figures made for difficult reading, “it is essential to recognise that behind each case is a vulnerable victim, often a child”.
“The rise in public reports highlights that engagement is increasing, which is critical as we continue to adapt to new and sophisticated threats in the digital world. This Government remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring online safety.”
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, she said there must be “a step change” in the response of social media platforms, who need to do more to combat the levels of child sexual abuse material online.
“Coimisiún na Meán will be responsible for making sure that illegal content like child sexual abuse material is taken down. But I believe we need to do more. The facial recognition legislation that I would bring forward in the coming weeks will allow gardaí to use facial recognition to try and identify victims, but also perpetrators.
“But beyond that, I believe our biggest challenge is the fact that more and more of this type of abuse material is going to the dark web. So it’s going into end-to-end encryption. It’s going into spaces where gardaí and others cannot access them. And that’s why at a European level, I believe we need to do more.”
Separately, Ms Entee added that Budget 2025 would ensure that “money is not a problem” when it comes to recruitment, additional staff and technology including body cameras and handheld devices to free up gardaí for frontline policing.
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