Susie Hargreaves said urgent action was needed, after it emerged that the number of self-generated child sexual abuse images identified by the IWF involving boys and girls aged seven to 10 had nearly tripled in a year.
It comes as MPs continue to hear evidence on the Online Safety Bill, with new rules proposed to force internet companies to better protect their users from harm on the internet.
“I think people would be absolutely horrified if they knew their seven-year-old was upstairs in their bedroom being tricked and encouraged into sharing this content,” said Hargreaves, chief executive of the charity responsible for removing child indecency online. “I think that there are some basic safety messages that can be shared with children that are not about ‘how to open an account’.”
She added that in exactly the same ways of warning about talking to strangers or crossing the road, there are basic safety messages that teachers need to get across with children...