To Keep Child Abuse Off the Internet, He Has to Watch It

Video by Jaap van Heusden and Jefta Varwijk

Mr. van Heusden and Mr. Varwijk spent three months with the analysts at Offlimits to understand the scope of their daily work.

An unfathomable amount of child sexual abuse material pollutes the internet. INHOPE, an international hotline network, processed nearly 2.5 million online records of suspected materials in 2024. The Netherlands and the United States hosted the most web addresses distributing this material.

Eko (last name withheld) works with Offlimits, a Dutch nonprofit that combats online child abuse. Offlimits operates a hotline where the public can report web addresses where they’ve encountered an image or video of abuse. The short film above, “10 Reports in 10 Minutes,” follows Eko as he works through a series of incoming reports, describing out loud what he’s seeing. The images on his screen are never shown to us; no sensitive materials are visible in the film.

The descriptions in the film are graphic and difficult to hear. Still, Times Opinion feels there is value in spending 10 minutes with Eko as he works. The film helps viewers understand the scale of child sexual abuse material online and the quiet toll exacted on the people who try to keep it off the internet.

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