Child porn up ‘exponentially’ online

The amount of child abuse imagery on the internet has increased “exponentially” and is expected to grow even more, the EU police agency has warned.

Europol predicted “higher levels of demand” for new child abuse material, fuelled by continued advances in technology. This includes the “proliferation” of live video streaming which does not necessitate the actual downloading of material, and the expansion of cloud computing.

The EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment, published by Europol, said this is only one area of criminal activity that is set to worsen.