Brussels NGO sounds alarm over widespread distribution of child abuse images on X

Alliance4Europe is a Brussels-based NGO that studies disinformation and foreign influence. During an investigation into Russian influence, it found a network of accounts that distribute images of child sexual abuse on a large scale.

These images are shared by bots or computer-controlled accounts, some of which have been hacked, while others were created specifically for this purpose. They use hashtags such as “mom” or “teenager” to lure users to the images. Short videos are posted on X, and users are then redirected to other platforms such as Telegram or Discord where more images are sold. 

Every message posted by one of these accounts is immediately shared or commented on by dozens of other accounts, so the original post appears at the top when a user searches those hashtags.

Alliance4Europe says it investigated the network for three days, between 18 and 22 July, and discovered more than 150 accounts in that time. The NGO shared the information with police and Child Focus.

“It’s a kind of criminal structure that is used to distribute images on a large scale. It is precisely because of these bots that the content is pushed through again and again,” says Tijana Popovic of Child Focus. “Hundreds of images can be distributed every minute. New links are created and distributed in a matter of seconds. And these are real children who are being abused.”

Popovic sees a huge responsibility for X, as well as for other social media platforms. “They have scaled back their security in recent years, which means this space can now be abused,” she says. “It is very important to increase their moderating again.”

Child Focus has also informed its international partners and sounded the alarm at the European Commission. The Commission is the European regulator for X and can launch an investigation into the platform, compel it to tackle such problems and impose fines or restrict access.