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Global Threat Assessment 2025
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Law, policy & justice

Global legislative momentum has gained pace

Global momentum to tackle technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse is accelerating, driven by a wave of new laws and initiatives.

Since 2023, countries including Australia, Brazil, Singapore, UK and USA have introduced legislation, from mandatory reporting by tech companies and online safety regulations to social media delays and restrictions and age-verification systems.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Cybercrime Convention (2024) establishes new international offences and obligations for prevention and victim support.

But there’s an urgent need to close the gap

Despite this notable progress, the Global Threat Assessment 2025 shows that regulation has still lagged behind the fast pace at which technology has developed. This gap has allowed space for harmful practices to occur.

Laws must now keep pace with emerging digital threats and ensure justice systems protect children without re-traumatising them.

Effective prevention requires collaboration across government, regulators, industry, and civil society to hold duty-bearers accountable and create systems that prioritise child rights and safety.

We don’t let children smoke. We don’t let children drink. We have legislation. So, it has taken too long for us to regulate the internet.

Civil society advocate

Harmonising laws globally

Closing legal loopholes and aligning laws with child rights standards is critical to addressing technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Global Threat Assessment 2025 explores some examples of recent legislative progress internationally that can pave the way for further legislative reform:

The report highlights that inconsistencies remain within and between governments. Comparative tools like the #BeBrave G7 Scorecard and Online Safety Regulatory Index highlight gaps and opportunities for improvement.

So much [sexual extortion] comes from foreign countries…but everyone’s got their own jurisdictions and laws, and no one wants to work together.

Survivor

Age assurance: balancing safety and rights

Age assurance is emerging as a key tool to protect children online, but it is far from simple. At its best, age assurance helps create safer digital spaces by ensuring children access age-appropriate content. At its worst, it bars young people from essential information, expression and connection.

Methods vary widely:

  • Self-declaration (entering a birth date) is easy but unreliable.
  • Age estimation (using algorithms or biometrics) offers convenience but can be inaccurate, with error rates as high as 73%* among teens and racial bias concerns. *The Guardian
  • Age verification (using official ID) is most accurate but raises privacy and equity issues, especially for children without formal identification.

There is no global standard for age assurance yet. Companies are experimenting with solutions like on-device checks and zero-knowledge proofs to confirm eligibility without revealing identity. Policymakers and industry must ensure these systems are transparent, rights-respecting, privacy-preserving, and co-designed with children.

Children and youth broadly support age checks but want meaningful involvement in shaping these laws. They also raise concerns about privacy, security, and digital inclusion.

90% of Australian children support age checks to access websites.

Age assurance consumer research findings, infrastructure.gov.au

56% of US teens support age verification on social media

Pew Research Center, 2023

Age assurance should not be about keeping children out; it should be about letting them in – safely.

5rightsFoundation

Survivor-centered justice & capacity building

Laws alone don’t protect children—they need systems that understand trauma and act before harm escalates.

Survivors often face disbelief or retraumatization when seeking justice, which erodes trust and deters reporting.

To change this, governments and institutions must invest in capacity building that prioritises dignity and safety.

Key actions include:

  • Training law enforcement and judiciary in child-friendly, trauma-informed approaches to ensure survivors are heard and supported.
  • Resourcing frontline responders—hotline staff, social workers, and cybercrime units—so they can manage rising caseloads effectively.
  • Deploying proactive detection tools like Thorn’s CSAM classifier and Rigr AI’s video summarizer to intercept harmful content before it spreads.

These measures create a justice system that is not only reactive but anticipatory—one that prevents harm and restores trust.

What our members are doing
Kenya’s Justice Handbook

For investigating tech-facilitated CSEA, which integrates survivor-sensitive protocols.
Canada’s Six ‘R’ Model

For trauma-informed policing, emphasising respect, recognition, and resilience.

Cross-sector coordination against emerging threats

Online exploitation is evolving fast. One alarming trend is financial sexual extortion, often targeting teenage boys—a demographic less likely to seek help due to shame and fear.

Combating this requires a whole-of-ecosystem approach, where law enforcement, tech platforms, NGOs, and financial institutions work in lockstep.

Why coordination matters:

Criminals exploit gaps between sectors. When platforms tighten controls, offenders pivot to payment systems; when banks flag suspicious transfers, they shift to crypto. Only integrated strategies can close these loopholes.

Example:
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) exemplifies this model by partnering across sectors to deliver prevention campaigns and resources:

  • Snapchat ads reaching 5 million teens with safety tips.
  • ThinkUKnow program equipping schools and families with practical tools.
  • Family-focused campaigns encouraging early conversations about online safety.

Reports of financial sexual extortion targeting Australian children rose 60% during school holidays, underscoring the need for timely interventions

Australian Federal Police

Intelligence sharing through Lantern led to 100,000+ accounts being enforced against for violations related to CSEA in 2024

The Tech Coalition

It’s a whole network and ecosystem that you need for prevention to be successful.

Law Enforcement

Global Threat Assessment 2025

GTA 25 landscape

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Prevention Framework

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