One of the largest pedophile platforms in the world has been shut down after an international investigation, with crypto widely used as a payment method for images of child sexual abuse.
“Kidflix” resembled a streaming service—and according to Europol, 1.8 million users worldwide had logged on to the site between April 2022 and March of this year.
Detectives have identified 1,275 people who either purchased child sexual assault material using digital assets, or earned credits by uploading their own material.
So far, 79 suspects have been arrested and more than 3,000 electronic devices have been seized, with 39 children protected from further abuse.
Europol says this was the largest child sexual exploitation operation in its history—and Kidflix was more sophisticated than other pedophile platforms taken down in the past.
More than 91,000 unique videos with a total running time of 6,288 hours had been uploaded to the site, with an average of 3.5 new clips uploaded every hour. Law enforcement had been previously unaware about most of this footage.
Each video was also available in low, medium or high quality, with pedophiles paying a premium for larger files.
More than 35 countries from around the world were involved in the operation to shut the dark web site, led by investigators from the German state of Bavaria.
Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle warned there are “real victims” behind these crimes, adding: “The digital dimension has driven a rapid evolution in online child sexual exploitation, offering offenders a borderless platform to contact and groom victims, as well as to create, store, and exchange child sexual abuse material. Some attempt to frame this as merely a technical or cyber issue—but it is not.”
In a statement, the U.K. National Crime Agency confirmed that 63 British users of Kidflix had been identified so far—and of those, 30 have been arrested.
“Providing this global to local response is paramount in our role to protect children from child sexual abuse and criminals who seek out this content,” NCA senior manager Neil Keeping said.
The traceability of digital assets helps detectives bring criminals to justice, as crypto transfers can be monitored through blockchain analytics.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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