Most of the reports submitted to the Internet Hotline last year were related to online child sexual abuse
In 2023, the Internet Hotline (IH) handled 2047 reports, 42% of which were related to child sexual abuse. While intimate image abuse of adults remained a serious problem in 2023, the number of parents seeking help from the IH increased significantly compared to previous years. Experience shows that children tend to solve their problems on their own, without seeking help, and victim blaming remains common among them. Last year, the IH sent a joint message with the Integrated Legal Protection Service to 4,500 educational institutions, saying: children have a right to online safety, as well!
The Internet Hotline online information and help service has been operating under the NMHH umbrella since 2011, and has handled more than 18,000 reports. Maintained by the NMHH, the hotline receives reports in eight categories regarding internet content that the reporting individual believes to be illegal or harmful to minors, via the form or by sending an email to internethotline@internethotline.hu.
Most of the reports received by the IH are in the category of child pornography; this tendency has been unchanging since 2019. One of the main messages of the IH is that we all have important roles and responsibilities in the fight against online child sexual abuse, and it is important not to ignore such content, but instead to contact the IH with confidence.
Hotline analysts have found that intimate image-abuse is also a serious problem. Intimate image abuse mainly affects women, but there are also an increasing number of men reporting incidents affecting them. In the category of content published without consent, both the number of reports and their proportion have increased compared to 2022, with the latter showing an increase from 10 to 14 percent. Within the category, the proportion of intimate image abuse was particularly high: in 2023, they accounted for a third, that is 32 per cent, of all reports received, and 39 percent in 2022. The IH wants to send a message to all concerned that intimate image abuse is not the victim’s fault, and to help victims understand that they are not alone in the online space: they can always turn to the IH.
According to Dr Dorina Csalár, Head of the IH, the reported incidents are becoming more serious and complex when compared to previous years. In addition, more and more parents are seeking help for the online abuse of their children.
The NMHH and specifically the IH are both committed to protecting young people, and therefore are increasingly focusing on education about online abuse. Their experts are regularly present at children’s camps, schools, professional events and conferences. In 2023, the IH’s awareness-raising activities personally reached 1,700 individuals, over a thousand of whom were children. In their interviews with children, the Internet Hotline staff’s most important experience was understanding that victim blaming is a serious issue among them, which significantly increases the victim’s sense of shame, making them reluctant to seek help. Children also typically prefer to solve their problems on their own, without getting adults involved. However, certain situations do require the help of adults, and it is important to convince young people of this.
The IH, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Interior’s Integrated Legal Protection Service, distributed rights awareness posters to 4,500 public education institutions during the autumn of 2023. The posters brought up eight specific points in order to raise awareness of online abuse. The messages they conveyed included affirmations assuring children that no one was allowed to hurt or bully them, even online, because they are all equally valuable, and no one can ask them to do something they are not comfortable with or do not want to do, such as taking intimate pictures of recordings of themselves. The online information and help service hopes to help children understand that they do have rights online, and it is vital that they know they are not alone, and can ask for help.
To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of their work, the IH is constantly seeking to build close relationships with both international and local professional organisations. Their partners include, among others, the Rapid Response and Special Police Services National Bureau of Investigation, the Integrated Legal Protection Service of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Tax and Customs Administration, the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, UNICEF, the Blue Line Children’s Crisis Foundation, as well as the largest social media platforms.
