The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is relaunching its reporting portal in Kenya. The portal will enable more people to safely and anonymously report images and videos of child sexual abuse should they stumble across them on the internet.
IWF is a UK-based international charity responsible for finding and removing images and videos of child sexual abuse from the internet. The charity has teamed up with the Kenyan Government’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit (AHTCPU), and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) for the dedicated portal.
The portal was initially launched in January, but only for law enforcement in Kenya to report suspected images and videos of child sexual abuse on the internet.
The re-launched of the portal will now give members of the public in Kenya a place to report illegal material. Once reported through the new portal, images and videos will be assessed by trained IWF analysts in the UK. If they are found to contain child sexual abuse, they can be blocked and removed from the internet.
Commenting on the relaunch of the portal, Susie Hargreaves, CEO IWF, said, “We are so pleased to be able to open this portal up to the public and to allow members of the public in Kenya to help us in our mission to make the internet a safer place all over the world. With new technology, the frontline of the internet is in everyone’s homes and on their phones. Now, people in Kenya will be able to call out illegal images of child sexual abuse online, helping our world-class analysts tackle the problem wherever it occurs.”
Jeniffer Wamuyu Kanyi of the Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations said, “DCI is committed to ensuring that children are safe in both the physical and virtual environments. We know that seeing images and videos of child sexual abuse can be upsetting. We want you to know that by reporting to us you are doing the right thing. Your report could lead to the rescue of a young victim from further abuse,” she added.
The relaunch is being supported by 13 different organizations which will include a link to the portal on their websites. These are listed below.
- National Police Service
- Kenya Police Service
- Administration Police service
- Kenya Prisons Service
- National council for children services
- National Police Service Commission
- Communication Authority of Kenya
- Child Welfare Society of Kenya
- Department of Children Services (DCS)
- National Council for Persons with Disability
- Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Board
- National Gender and Equality commission
- The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ)
The public has been advised to do the following while making a report
- Do report images and videos of child sexual abuse to the IWF to be removed. Reports to the IWF are anonymous.
- Do provide the exact URL where child sexual abuse images are located.
- Don’t report other harmful content – you can find details of other agencies to report to on the IWF’s website.
- Do report to the police if you are concerned about a child’s welfare,
- Do report only once for each web address – or URL. Repeat reporting of the same URL isn’t needed and wastes analysts’ time.
- Do report non-photographic visual depictions of the sexual abuse of children, such as computer-generated images. Anything of this nature, which is also hosted in the UK, the IWF can get removed.