Computer-generated child sexual abuse material rose by 325 per cent last year

Eva Osborne

Computer-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) rose by 325 per cent last year, according to Hotline.ie.

Ireland's national service for reporting illegal content online is warning that the content is increasingly shifting behind paywalled or closed-access platforms.

It processed just over 61,000 reports of illegal online content last year, marking a 14.7 per cent increase on 2024.

Irish Internet Hotline chief executive Mick Moran said: “The content itself has not changed. What has changed is how deliberately it is being hidden and how children are increasingly being commodified for payment.

"These barriers reduce visibility, slow disruption efforts, and make the work of identifying and removing this material significantly more difficult.

"It also highlights the need for financial institutions to play their part and partner with us to reduce the abuse of their financial service networks for this peddling of child sexual abuse material and other forms of exploitation.”

The 2025 Irish Internet Hotline Annual Report also found that a total of 456 child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) reports were assessed last year, with an 88 per cent removal rate achieved.

Hotline.ie said that, while this material may not be illegal, it remains" sexually exploitative in nature".

High removal rates were also achieved for intimate image abuse. Irish Internet Hotline processed 862 intimate image abuse (IIA) reports, achieving a 96 per cent removal rate for publicly accessible content.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.