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How Does CSAM Get Distributed?

Once CSAM is created, it can spread across the internet in seconds. For innocent victims, CSAM can be nearly impossible to track and even harder to erase.

With modern technology, abusers don’t need to publish content publicly to share it widely. Encrypted platforms, cloud storage, and dark web networks have made the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) faster, more secretive, and harder to stop.

The Scale of the Crisis

In 2024, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received over 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation from online platforms. Those reports included 62.9 million images, videos, and other files related to the CSAM report. (1)

Every one of those files represents a child who was harmed. And those are just the cases that were reported.

How CSAM Spreads

CSAM circulates through:

  • Dark web marketplaces hidden behind anonymity tools
  • Encrypted apps like Telegram, Signal, or WhatsApp
  • Peer-to-peer file-sharing networks
  • Cloud drives and “dead drop” links shared in private groups
  • Social media platforms using coded hashtags or emoji chains to evade moderation

Many offenders trade CSAM with one another to build status in abusive communities or use it as a form of currency to gain access to more material.

Even more disturbing: some materials are re-uploaded years or decades later, resurfacing trauma for survivors long after the original abuse occurred.

Why the U.S. Is at the Center

The Internet Watch Foundation found that in 2021, the U.S. hosted more CSAM URLs than any other country—over 252,000, a 64% increase from the previous year. (2) 

According to MIT Technology Review, this spike is partly due to:

  • The high number of data centers and internet servers in the U.S.
  • The speed and reliability of U.S.-based hosting platforms
  • A lack of consistent moderation and reporting enforcement (3)

Law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed. ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Task Forces receive far more leads than they can investigate, leaving many cases unaddressed.

Read Next: What About AI-Generated CSAM—Like Deepfakes?

SOURCE

  1. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (n.d.). Child sexual abuse material (CSAM). https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2025/ncmec-releases-new-data-2024-in-numbers
  2. Internet Watch Foundation. (2021). Annual Report. https://www.iwf.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/annual-report-2021/ 
  1. MIT Technology Review. (2022). The US now hosts more child sexual abuse material online than any other country. https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/26/1051282/the-us-now-hosts-more-child-sexual-abuse-material-online-than-any-other-country/ 
Last updated: July 31, 2025
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