In our 2020 Annual Report, we stated that websites have replaced image hosting sites as the online location that INHOPE member hotlines most commonly found Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). We also provide a breakdown of the different kinds of sites on which CSAM was found.

What are the different site types used to share CSAM, and what are some common examples of each?

The examples provided below are for the purposes of explaining the site type, and not an indicator of where CSAM was found.

Website (48%)

A set of related web pages located under a single domain name. Refers here to any kind of website that does not match the options listed below.
Site type example: our website (www.inhope.org)

Image host (24%)

A web service that hosts images on its servers, usually uploaded by users of the service.
Site type example: Flickr

File host (13%)

A web service that hosts downloadable files on its servers, usually uploaded by its users.
Site type example: DropBox

Forum (8%)

An online discussion site where users can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.
Site type example: Reddit

Image store (3%)

A type of forum where users primarily operate through posting images.
Site type example: Pinterest

Banner site (2%)

A webpage that primarily displays embedded ads.

Link site (2%)

A site that solely displays links to other sites.

Social Networking site (1%)

An online platform where users can interact with others via text, image or video to connect with people of similar interests.
Site type example: LinkedIn

Blog (0%)

A regularly updated website/page that displays posts in reverse-chronological order.
Site type example: HuffPost

Search provider (0%)

A system used to search the World Wide Web.
Site type example: Yahoo

Redirector (0%)

A URL that redirects to a page on another URL.

Web archive (0%)

A website that displays an archived version of other websites.

Learn more in our 2020 Annual Report.