A new sponsorship programme aims to help domain registrars 'disrupt' criminal businesses
Criminals running commercial child sexual abuse websites will be targeted under a new safety initiative which aims to disrupt their ability to buy domain names for their sites.
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom , Oct. 22, 2025 -- Today, Public Interest Registry (PIR), the US non-profit that operates the .ORG Top-Level Domain, and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have announced a new partnership which will empower Domain Name Registrars to disrupt sites dedicated to the commercial distribution and exploitation of online child sexual abuse material.
A registrar is an accredited organisation which sells domain names to the public. Through the expanded partnership with PIR and IWF, all registrars will now be able to access IWF's powerful tools to disrupt the distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) online at no cost. This will help registrars spot when criminal organisations which commercialise child sexual abuse imagery are attempting to set up "brands" with websites registered and used under different top-level domains and notify them when CSAM has been identified.
Domains specifically registered and used for the commercial distribution of child sexual abuse imagery are a deliberate abuse of the Domain Name System (DNS).
By signing up to the program, registrars will be alerted to the existence of dedicated commercial websites. This proactive approach could further disrupt the criminal abuse by making it more difficult for criminal organisations to register sites online.
Kerry Smith, Chief Executive at the Internet Watch Foundation, said: "In a world where so much is available to buy online, it is truly appalling to think that children's distress and suffering are seen as commercial opportunities and commodities by organised criminals.
Indeed, there are recognisable brands within this world which trade in online child sexual abuse, making money from the hurt inflicted on real children.
This is where registrars can have such a big impact and help disrupt some of these awful businesses which prolong suffering, and fuel the demand for this content. PIR's sponsorship will have an outsize impact in bringing powerful tools to more registrars."
Jon Nevett, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry, said: "With today's announcement, we are excited to evolve PIR's partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation. Building on the success we have had with registries, expanding access to IWF's services at no cost to the registrar community will be an important step in continuing to identify and remove harmful videos and images of CSAM and creating a safer Internet for all."
Under the sponsorship, registrars will be able to sign up for free access to the IWF Domain Alerts program which provides real-time alerts if child sexual abuse content is detected on a domain they manage to allow for fast removal of content before it is further spread online.
This is an extension of an existing sponsorship which began in February 2024 which saw PIR sponsor other registries and registry service providers with free access to two important IWF services, Domain Alerts and the TLD (Top-Level Domain) Hopping List.
The increased access to these services helped ensure faster, more streamlined disruption to child sexual abuse imagery identified by the IWF and enable quick action to be taken to stop criminals hopping from one domain to another to keep their content online.
Since the initiative began in 2024, 30 registries – amounting to nearly 60 TLDs and more than 53 million domains – have benefitted from the sponsorship, greatly increasing the use of IWF services in this area.
Now, PIR is extending that sponsorship with the IWF to cover domain name registrars in addition to the existing sponsorship for registries which will continue.
Registrar access to these tools will become available in early 2026. To learn more about how your business can get involved, visit iwf.org.uk/membership. Interested Domain Name Registrars can contact the membership team directly at members@iwf.org.uk.
The public is given this advice when making a report to iwf.org.uk/report:
- Do report images and videos of child sexual abuse to the IWF to be removed. Reports to the IWF are anonymous.
- Do provide the exact URL where child sexual abuse images are located.
- Don't report other harmful content – you can find details of other agencies to report to on the IWF's website.
- Do report to the police if you are concerned a child may be in immediate danger.
Do report only once for each web address – or URL. Repeat reporting of the same URL isn't needed and wastes analysts' time.
Notes to editors:
The IWF is the largest hotline in Europe dedicated to finding and removing child sexual abuse material from the internet.
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