Mumsnet halts picture sharing after ‘child sexual abuse images shared on site’
4 February 2025, 17:14
Founder Justine Roberts said five images were posted from two different accounts late on Sunday and into Monday morning.
Parenting forum Mumsnet has temporarily stopped picture sharing after child sexual abuse images were allegedly posted on its website.
Founder and chief executive Justine Roberts said five images were posted from two different accounts late on Sunday and into Monday morning, with most removed within an hour and all taken down by 4am.
She said the images were reported to the Metropolitan Police and that a follow-up meeting with officers will take place.
Ms Roberts said moderators were alerted to the images through site posts, with automatic moderation also triggered after multiple user reports.
She told the PA news agency: “As a temporary measure, we have suspended the ability to post images on site and we are working on implementing AI filters to flag illegal/disturbing images before they appear.
“We’re also liaising with external specialists to see if there are any further tools we can employ to help us prevent this from happening again in the future.”
AI filtering is expected to be in place in the next few days after which image posting will be reinstated, Ms Roberts added.
Mumsnet, founded in 2000, is one of the UK’s biggest parenting platforms, saying it attracts around nine million unique monthly users.
The Met has been approached for comment.
