Better Internet for Kids

Drawing on data submitted by 28 hotlines across 26 countries, this quarter's Hotline Observatory highlights key trends shaping hotline operations, including the continued rollout of the trusted flagger programme under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the emergence of AI-generated CSAM, and the increasingly diverse online environments in which illegal content is encountered.

The trusted flagger programme advanced steadily across the network during Q1 2026. Fourteen INHOPE member hotlines now hold trusted flagger status, with ten of them having submitted more than 15,500 official notices through dedicated reporting channels across different platforms. As the initiative evolves, hotlines are increasingly establishing reporting procedures and engaging with online platforms under the DSA.

Of the total reports received by the network this quarter, 56 per cent were verified and classified as CSAM. One of the most significant trends was the increase in reports involving computer-generated CSAM, which reached 8,077 reports during Q1 2026 - a 151% increase compared with the previous quarter. While still representing a relatively small proportion of overall CSAM reports, the rapid growth of this category illustrates the evolving technological landscape and the new challenges facing hotline analysts.

Alongside CSAM, hotlines processed reports relating to spam, child nudity, grooming, adult pornography, financial scams, hate speech and sexual extortion. While more than 43,000 reports were ultimately classified as not illegal, these figures highlight the important gatekeeper role that hotlines play in filtering public reports and ensuring that illegal content can be identified and prioritised for action. Crucially, this is where INHOPE’s ICCAM system provides immense value: it facilitates the secure cross-border exchange of reports that may be legal in the receiving country but illegal in the hosting country, ensuring that varying national jurisdictions do not prevent illegal content from being swiftly flagged and removed.

The online environments in which illegal content is encountered also present shifting challenges. While websites remain the primary source of material (57 per cent of verified CSAM is found there), hotlines increasingly identify content across social media services, cloud storage platforms, and other digital environments, reflecting the growing fragmentation of online offending.

Ultimately, Q1 2026 reflects a network successfully scaling its operations to meet the demands of a more sophisticated digital landscape. The integration of the trusted flagger framework, the surge in computer-generated material, and the expanding footprint of alternative digital environments all underscore the vital need for adaptable content moderation. By pairing localised hotline expertise with the borderless capability of the ICCAM platform, the network remains uniquely equipped to counter these shifting dynamics and safeguard the digital ecosystem.

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