Report Online Child Exploitation Material

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The Digital Safety Group at Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) investigates objectionable and restricted material in New Zealand. This includes material related to the creation, possession, and distribution of child sexual exploitation material. To report online child exploitation material, complete a content complaint form by following the button below:

 Report Online Child Exploitation Material

What should I report?

DIA only investigates instances of image-based offending. You should report content containing material that promotes, describes, depicts, or deals with:

  • Sexual exploitation of children or young persons
  • Sexual violence, coercion, or torture
  • Bestiality, sexual conduct involving the body of a dead person, or the use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or dehumanising conduct or sexual conduct.

What happens when I make a report?

Your report will be entered into our database for review by one of our investigators, who will determine whether the content is objectionable (illegal). You may receive an acknowledgement that your report has been received if you have provided a contact email.

The actions we may take depend on the type of content reported. We may:

  • Identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals who possess or distribute the content; or
  • Refer the content for consideration for addition to the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System, if it is hosted on a website; or
  • Engage with appropriate agencies such as Netsafe, New Zealand Police, or Te Mana Whakaatu The Classification Office, if the content is not found to contain objectionable (illegal) material.

Reporting other forms of online child sexual exploitation

We work closely with our partner agencies to tackle online child sexual exploitation both domestically and internationally. There are a range of organisations that work to protect children and young people in this space. For more information on the different organisations, their roles and how to report to them, see the image below:

How to Report Online Child Exploitation (click on image to open PDF, 338KB)

For further information

  • To find out what classifies as objectionable and restricted material see here
  • To find how to report other harmful online content not listed here, such as hate crimes, online incidents, security issues, or privacy breaches, see here