Countering sexual abuse and exploitation of children: new report published by Council of Europe

The Council of Europe's Lanzarote Committee published its 10th activity report marking the 15th anniversary of the Lanzarote Convention, the first comprehensive, legally binding treaty providing a response to sexual violence against children, ratified by 48 parties. The report on data collection mechanisms across 36 countries identified gaps in evidence-based policymaking and urged national authorities to use available data to develop and monitor measures addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse; the Lanzarote and Cybercrime Convention Committees will hold a joint event on 2 June 2026 to exchange information on emerging challenges posed by AI-generated or altered child sexual abuse material.

The Council of Europe's call for evidence-based policy and better data on AI-altered CSAM highlights the operational intelligence gap that Guardii closes in practice. Where treaty bodies and national legislators work in multi-year cycles to harmonise definitions and enforcement regimes, offenders operate in real time, adapting tools and tactics daily. Guardii translates research findings—on grooming language patterns, sextortion escalation paths, and AI-CSAM solicitation behaviours—into live detection rules deployed across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other platforms. Each flagged conversation generates structured data on offender behaviour, threat typology, and child-risk indicators, feeding back into the evidence base that policymakers and investigators need while simultaneously protecting the child in the moment. As a Meta Business Partner backed by Startmate, Guardii serves as the operational bridge between research, regulation and real-world prevention, ensuring that the data collected is actionable, the threat is interdicted, and the child is safeguarded before harm occurs.