The French hotline Point de Contact has published its 2021 Annual Report.

Point de Contact received 81,416 reports in 2021, an increase of 35% compared to 2020 and 168% compared to 2019. The increase mainly concerns child sexual exploitation material and particularly image-based abuse involving minors. This increase is noticed since the containment periods of 2020 (+164% during the two containment periods compared to 2019) and 2021. The health crisis has impacted the digital uses of Internet users and especially children, having spent more time online. In this context, offenders may have targeted children more often and committed sexual offences remotely.

Report Statistics

• 81,416 reports received in 2021 (+35% compared to 2020)
• 21,109 reports assessed as child sexual exploitation material (+78% compared to 2020)
• 20,330 URLs have been forwarded to French LEA (+116% compared to 2020)
  
  

The increase in reports is a challenge for all the INHOPE hotlines including Point de Contact as the 2nd European and the 4th global CSEM hosting country. Considering the growing volume of reports, Point de Contact has established a system of prioritisation in its processing system and uses technological tools such as the Google Safety API, to prioritise its processing according to the nature/seriousness of the content reported.

Point de Contact is the first professional reporter of the French LEA platform and has forwarded 20,330 URLs in 2021, which means twice as many URLs (+116%) compared to 2020.


Access the Annual Report here.