New figures show the organisation recorded a threefold rise in the number of images it deleted featuring children aged between seven and 10.

The findings come as the Government launches a campaign on Thursday urging parents to speak to their young children about the dangers of online predators before giving young people their own devices.

Victims ‘getting younger and younger’

Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, said children were often lured on to livestreams and tricked or coerced into performing explicit acts, while abusers secretly photographed them.

She said: “Even with 10 years working in this area, the rise of self-generated material has shocked me and the fact that children are getting younger and younger. 

“We are now seeing seven to 10-year-olds doing what we were seeing 11 to 13-year-olds doing a year ago. 

“Often as we have seen an increase in sibling abuse and that may be the way it is trickling down in terms of age group.”

Figures for 2021 showed the organisation found and deleted 27,000 “self-generated” images involving children aged between seven and 10, compared to 8,000 in 2020.

The organisation removed a record amount of child abuse material from the web last year, deleting 252,000 web pages compared to 153,350 in 2020 – a rise of 64 per cent.

In 2021, the Internet Watch Foundation also recorded a sharp rise in the amount of self-generated abuse material involving older children.

Last year, the organisation deleted 147,000 web pages with content involving 11 to 13-year-olds – a 167 per cent increase on the 55,300 reports deleted in 2020.

The foundation recorded a surge in reports of child abuse online during the 2020 lockdowns, when children were spending more time on the internet.

Ms Hargreaves said that over the last year, the organisation has also witnessed a “disturbing” trend of young children increasingly using “pornographic language” videos.

She called on the Government to use the forthcoming online duty of care legislation to stop under-18s accessing adult porn sites.

“We don’t make up any moral judgment about pornography per se,” said Ms Hargreaves. 

“But children are clearly picking it up from somewhere and we really need to address children’s access to adult content.”

Launch of Stop Abuse Together campaign

Stop Abuse Together is being launched by the Government on Thursday and urges parents to monitor their children’s internet use.

The campaign advises parents to set ground rules with their children for how to use the internet safely. It also urges them to use parental apps that notify them about who their children are speaking to online.

Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “The internet is a vital resource for children to learn and socialise with their peers, but this shocking data shows the unacceptable risks that children can face online.

“With the new Stop Abuse Together campaign, we will help empower millions of parents to spot the potential signs of child sexual abuse and take action to keep their children safe.

“All children have a right to be safe from the abhorrent crime of sexual abuse, and we all have a role to play in keeping them safe. Let’s stop abuse together.”