In 2025, analysts confirmed 311,610 webpages contained child sexual abuse material, of which 15,031 (5%) were identified as commercial in nature. This represents an increase from 2024, when 7,028 webpages (2%) were commercial.

Commercial websites often host a wider range of imagery than non-commercial sites, including material involving victims of all ages and some of the most severe abuse.

Of the commercial webpages actioned, 13,481 showed evidence of indirect monetisation, such as disguised sites , sites offering premium access to child sexual abuse material, or click-through links. The remaining 1,550 webpages offered a direct option to purchase abuse imagery.

In most cases, the payment details were publicly visible and/or accessible, however it may have required account creation in order to view the full payment details or instructions. In cases where details were publicly visible and/or accessible, analysts recorded the following:

Payment groups

• 1,002 URLs showed 3,276 options of a virtual currency payment
• 901 URLs showed 1,600 options of a money transfer service
• 148 URLs showed 240 options of credit card services

Individual sites may offer multiple payment methods, both across different payment groups and within a single group. For instance, a site might accept virtual currencies and credit cards, while also providing several options within each group, such as multiple virtual currencies or money transfer methods.

Not all payment methods were visible in publicly accessible areas of commercial sites. In some instances they required making contact or interacting with the alleged sellers, much of which took place on end-to-end encrypted platforms.

Invite Child Abuse Pyramid Sites (ICAPS)

An example of a commercial website is an Invite Child Abuse Pyramid (ICAP) site . First identified in 2022, offenders continue to distribute child sexual abuse material by posting links to ICAP sites. These links are shared in both child sexual abuse related chat rooms and publicly accessible platforms, encouraging widespread sharing to recruit buyers, increase site traffic, and generate income.

In 2025

We assessed 10,004 ICAP webpages
98% of the reports of ICAPs we assessed came to us through reports from members of the public
999 of these displayed or led to child sexual abuse imagery
5,234 we recorded as previously actioned.

These 'previously actioned' reports relate to URLs that had already been actioned by our analysts. Even when our analysts have already assessed a URL as criminal, any further instances of the same URL being reported by the public are recorded as 'previously actioned' reports.

IWF Internet Content Analyst

Frontline observations

Some readers may find the following descriptions distressing, please feel free to skip this section.

In recent years we have reported on a type of commercial website known as Invitation Child Abuse Pyramid (ICAP) sites.

First reported to the IWF in 2022, these sites have continued to circulate. We assessed more than 10,000 ICAP reports in 2025, with 98% of those reports sent to us by the public.

These sites generate income for a bad actor either by offering the direct purchase of child sexual abuse material from a structure of tiers increasing in value, or through a pyramid-style scheme where a buyer creates a unique invitation link to be shared via social media platforms. When this link is clicked, the buyer is 'rewarded' with more free content. This method also serves as an ‘advertisement’ for the site owner, their exposure increasing with every ‘share’. Often, these ‘invitations’ are shared within comment sections under unrelated videos, with accompanying text describing the criminal imagery accessible at the link.

These sites have evolved from simple designs to more sophisticated layouts, most recently using AI-generated videos of children on the log-in page. Sometimes an adult pornography thumbnail is displayed, but when clicked, the video shows child sexual abuse. Where we once saw just three styles of ICAP site, there are now over 20 different iterations.

Typically, a Telegram account is provided as a contact for the purchase of additional material. Recently we have seen ICAP sites offering payment using cryptocurrency, as well as purchase via gift cards.

Not all of the imagery on ICAP sites is paywalled. Some videos can be accessed immediately upon entering the site and even downloaded.

Using intelligence we have compiled since first seeing these sites, analysts have curated a set of keywords to search proactively for ICAPs. Now we can locate ICAP sites using a single keyword and two clicks of a mouse. This helps prevent the onward sharing of these abhorrent, exploitative sites and minimise the chances of internet users stumbling across them.

Money is a significant motivator for producing child sexual abuse material online. A crucial part of tackling the spread of child sexual abuse material is disrupting the commercial influences driving its production. Including through the introduction of mandatory duties on financial institutions to proactively detect, take down, and report digital payment links directing to the sale of images and videos of child sexual abuse.

Commercial sites

Abuse of payment types for child sexual abuse imagery