Ofcom, the United Kingdom online safety regulator, on 18 March 2026 published the results of a global dark web survey of over 20,000 perpetrators actively searching for child sexual abuse material. Commissioned from Protect Children, the research explores how offenders use and exploit digital platform designs to view, host and distribute CSAM, with fieldwork completed in January 2026. The report aims to equip Ofcom with evidence to design targeted safety measures, reduce risks and identify early prevention opportunities, addressing a notable gap in research about how perpetrators use online services to exploit children.
Protecting a child before they receive a malicious contact depends on understanding not just the volume of offenders but the mechanics of abuse itself. Guardii's anti-grooming and anti-CSAM detection modules function as real-time defence against precisely the exploit pathways this survey documents, scanning direct messages across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox to intercept predatory contact before it reaches a vulnerable user. The platform blocks hostile patterns rather than every word, surfaces children in acute distress to the adults who can intervene, and enables rapid escalation to law enforcement when necessary. Where traditional regulation gathers evidence in hindsight, targeted detection intervenes at first contact.
