The October 2026 KIFOV Briefing brings together, in one document, the figures and decisions that anyone working on children's safety online is likely to need this autumn. It is written to be quoted: every figure carries its source, and the full version is available as a PDF.
What is in the briefing
The scale of harm. The US CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports in 2025, including 1.4 million about online enticement and an average of 137 reports of financial sextortion a day. The Internet Watch Foundation confirmed 3,443 AI-generated child sexual abuse videos in 2025, more than 260 times the previous year, and found that 98% of the sextortion cases it handled involved boys aged 14 to 17.
What platforms must now do. A New Mexico court has ordered five years of supervised changes to Facebook and Instagram for under-18s, after a total of $942 million in penalties. In the United States, platforms must remove reported intimate images within 48 hours under the Take It Down Act, enforced since 19 May 2026. Australia's regulator moved to enforcement in March 2026 against five large platforms over its under-16 minimum age. Roblox now requires an age check before any chat.
Where to get help. A table of verified services in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus international directories, each with the date of its last check.
Who it is for
Journalists who need a sourced summary on deadline; policy and regulatory staff comparing approaches across countries; teachers, social workers and trust and safety teams who need the reporting routes in one place.
How to cite
KIFOV (2026). KIFOV Briefing, October 2026: children's safety online, where things stand. KIFOV-B-2026-10, version 1.0. https://kifov.org/research/kifov-briefing-october-2026/
