DOJ received 2.8 million online child sex abuse complaints in 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has received more than 2.8 million reports about online child sexual abuse this year, more than double the nearly 1.3 million reports it collated in 2020.

In its annual report, the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (OOC) said it launched an official investigation of 268 cases of online sexual exploitation of children this year, almost four times the 73 cases it handled in 2020.

The OOC’s findings seemed to confirm an earlier report from international group WeProtect Global Alliance, which noted that cases of child sexual abuse on the internet had worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Philippines was previously identified by the United Nations Children’s Fund as the “global epicenter of the livestream sexual abuse trade.”

But the DOJ’s anti-cybercrime unit noted that most of the 2.8 million reports it received were “not actionable” since these had been submitted multiple times or were “misleading” and erroneously reported.