CEASE UK

Today was the deadline the UK Government set for Apple and Google to activate device-level protections on children's phones. The requirement was clear: make it impossible for a child to take, receive, view or send a nude image. Three months were given. Neither company has announced the measures ministers asked for. The cost of the delay is measurable. Report Remove received 394 reports from under-18s last year following threats to publish their own images, 34% more than the year before. The overwhelming majority were boys aged 14 to 17. In Metro last week, CEASE's Strategy Director, Dr Elly Hanson, said she was "outraged and aggrieved, but not shocked", and that "big tech tends not to protect children unless it is forced to, so now is the time to apply this force". Our Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Lauren Agnew, warned that allowing the commitment to go quiet would be "a green light to companies that have shown voluntary measures don't work". The technology is not the obstacle. Nudity detection already exists on these devices. It is simply not applied to the camera, or across apps, by default. Alongside sector colleagues, including the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the NSPCC, CEASE has made the case that device-level protections must be mandated in legislation rather than left to voluntary adoption. We welcome the Government's restated commitment to legislate if companies do not act, and will continue to press for that legislation to be brought forward without further delay. Read the Metro report: https://lnkd.in/eMRw2TV2 #childprotection #onlinesafety #UKpolitics

CEASE welcomes the UK Government's decision to back the Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill. Introduced by Munira Wilson MP, the Bill passed its Second Reading on Friday and will now proceed to detailed scrutiny. If enacted, it would create specific offences in England and Wales covering the making, possession, importation and supply of child-like sexual abuse dolls, with a maximum sentence of five years. In the UK Home Office announcement, our CEO, Naomi Miles, said the Bill would close a dangerous gap in the law and send a clear message: products that risk normalising the sexual abuse of children have no place in society. Government support is significant, but the parliamentary process is not yet complete. The law must also respond to emerging digital forms of the same harm. Alongside sector colleagues, CEASE briefed MPs ahead of Friday's Second Reading on the need to apply the same principle to digital equivalents, including companion chatbots modelled as children that simulate sexual abuse scenarios. We will continue pressing for legislation that protects children wherever the threat appears, online or offline. Read the Home Office announcement: https://lnkd.in/eMKNZg83 #childprotection #onlinesafety #policychange

🎉 Happy 1-Year Work Anniversary to our incredible Administrator, Chloe Whatling 🎉 Time flies when you have someone brilliant keeping the wheels turning behind the scenes! For the past 12 months, Chloe has been the organisational heart of CEASE, bringing dedication, efficiency, and a wonderful positive energy to our team every single day. Let’s be honest: running a charity gets messy sometimes. But Chloe never misses a beat. She manages all the behind-the-scenes madness so that we can stay completely focused on our mission. She doesn't 'do admin'; she makes our work possible. Thank you, Chloe, for all your hard work, support, and commitment over the last year. We are so lucky to have you on the team 🩵 Please join us in the comments below in congratulating Chloe on her first year with us👇 🔗 Connect with Chloe here: https://lnkd.in/ggCPTVh5 #workanniversary #charitysector #teamappreciation #workmilestone

Raising the age of access to social media: why our Head of Policy is no longer on the fence. "If I'm honest, when I first started exploring the conversation around raising the age of access to social media, I was on the fence. I strongly support safety by design: platforms should be built safe for children from the ground up, with functionality that puts their safety first. My hesitation around a 'social media ban' was simple. I didn't want to advocate for a sticking plaster that let tech companies off the hook. I quickly realised it's not either-or. It has to be both. Raising the age of access is a circuit breaker. It protects children now, while safety by design reform takes effect. And let's be clear about what this policy actually does. It doesn't stop children accessing social media. It stops Big Tech accessing children, and profiting at their expense. If a building is structurally unsafe, we don't wait for someone to be injured. We keep people out until it's safe." Read the full statement from Lauren Agnew, Head of Policy and Public Affairs 👇 https://lnkd.in/eZaCrwDA #onlinesafety #childprotection #under16socialmedia

📣We're looking for a Treasurer to join the CEASE board. CEASE UK works to end the harms caused by pornography and commercial sexual exploitation -through policy, survivor-led advocacy, and public campaigns. We're a small team doing important work, and we're growing. As we invest in our people and expand our impact, we need someone with serious financial expertise to help us govern well and grow sustainably. This is a voluntary, remote role and it's a chance to use your skills for something that genuinely matters. We're looking for someone who: ✔️ Understands charity finance ✔️ Can support and constructively challenge a CEO and senior team ✔️ Communicates financial information clearly to a non-finance audience ✔️ Believes in what we do If that sounds like you or someone you know we'd love to hear from you. To apply please send a one page cover letter and CV. Informal conversations are also warmly welcomed before applying. Drop a message to Dieudonnée Yakubu-Ogede or contact@cease.org.uk Full role description at ↓ https://lnkd.in/dW6PMtdR Deadline for applications- By 11:59pm on 31st July 2026  #Trustees #CharityGovernance #Treasurer #Nonprofit #Volunteering #SexualExploitation #CEASE

If a building is structurally unsafe, we don't wait for someone to get hurt before we close it. We keep people out until it's repaired. This week the Government did exactly that for children online. The minimum age for social media is being raised to 16. CEASE welcomes it. Here's why it matters. (Content note: references to child sexual abuse and grooming.) For years, platforms have run as predators' playgrounds. Millions of children exposed to strangers, grooming and sextortion. Drip-fed sexualised content by algorithms. Funnelled toward OnlyFans and pornography before they've had a first relationship. These aren't glitches. They're design choices. Social media companies are not neutral spaces. They engineer the environments children live in, using persuasive design and powerful algorithms to capture attention and shape behaviour. For profit. The Government's verdict was blunt: "Tech giants had their chance and failed." Nine in ten parents back raising the age. Two-thirds of young people agree. Some say it's heavy-handed, but we say the scale of the harm demands it. This is a circuit breaker, not a silver bullet. It buys time while the deeper work happens: safety by design, real age assurance, honest education. But while the building is still unsafe, you don't leave children inside it. You can be pro-tech and pro-child. The two were never enemies. Is 16 the right line? We think so. Tell us where you land. #childprotection #socialmedia #safetybydesign 📌 Full article by Lauren Agnew, our Head of Policy & Public Affairs https://lnkd.in/erdpM9MP

This is a landmark moment for child protection online! The Government has announced plans for device-level protections that would prevent children from accessing pornography and from taking, sending or receiving nude images on their smartphones. This is a radical step, with the potential to be transformative. For years, internet and mobile technologies have fuelled an explosion in sexual harms affecting children, from online grooming and sexual exploitation to child sexual abuse material, image-based abuse and exposure to pornography. Now, we are seeing technology used to tackle those harms at source. For CEASE, this feels like a significant and hard-won victory. It reflects years of campaigning for the kind of upstream protections that can prevent harm before it occurs, rather than simply responding once children have already been harmed. If implemented properly, these protections could help stem the flow of child sexual abuse material, reduce children's exposure to pornography and give young people greater freedom to grow up without the constant influence of the online sex industry. Read more about it in our blog here https://lnkd.in/eVP5m_CH

We're looking for a Treasurer to join the CEASE board. 📣 CEASE UK works to end the harms caused by pornography and commercial sexual exploitation -through policy, survivor-led advocacy, and public campaigns. We're a small team doing important work, and we're growing. As we invest in our people and expand our impact, we need someone with serious financial expertise to help us govern well and grow sustainably. This is a voluntary, remote role around 4–6 hours a month- and it's a chance to use your skills for something that genuinely matters. We're looking for a qualified accountant (or equivalent with a background in Finance) who: ✔️ Understands charity finance and SORP ✔️ Can support and constructively challenge a CEO and senior team ✔️ Communicates financial information clearly to a non-finance audience ✔️ Believes in what we do If that sounds like you or someone you know we'd love to hear from you. Informal conversations warmly welcomed before applying. Drop a message to Dieudonnée Yakubu-Ogede or contact@cease.org.uk Full role description at ↓ https://lnkd.in/evy3Hm7Z A recruitment pack is available- just get in touch and we'll send it over #Trustees #CharityGovernance #Treasurer #Nonprofit #Volunteering #SexualExploitation #CEASE

We are thrilled to introduce Dieudonnée Yakubu-Ogede as Director of Operations at CEASE UK Dieudonnée brings over a decade of experience leading strategy, research, operations, and organisational transformation across NGOs, membership bodies, and mission-driven organisations. She has held senior roles at the Confederation of British Industry and The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, where she has led cross-functional teams, strengthened organisational systems, and translated evidence into effective delivery. She also serves as a Trustee and Non-Executive Director at AfriKids UK. At CEASE, Dieudonnée focuses on building the systems, structures and organisational capacity that enable us to scale our impact-combining strong governance with operational excellence in service of our mission to end sexual exploitation. Naomi(our CEO) says:  “With Dieudonnee’s steady and capable presence at the helm, CEASE is in safe hands, giving me the freedom to focus outwardly. As she holds the detail, I’m able to keep sight of the bigger picture and ensure we’re moving in the right direction.  This kind of structure is essential for the work we’re doing. We’re operating in relatively new territory, often needing to innovate and break new ground, and it’s not something one person can hold alone. Having that clarity and complementarity in leadership allows us to move with both focus and flexibility.  Having her with us is a huge asset, and a real strength for the organisation.” We are delighted to have her as part of our leadership team. Find out more about our work and how you can get involved here: https://lnkd.in/eYS2Wgyw #WelcomeToTheTeam #Operations #MissionDriven #CEASE #SexualExploitation #CharitySector

We want to take a moment to formally introduce Naomi Miles, Founder and Chief Executive of CEASE UK and to share a little of the journey that brought us here. Naomi began work on CEASE in 2017, initially working behind the scenes to shape its vision, values and strategy before stepping into executive leadership. Over that time, she has led CEASE's strategic direction, public positioning and development from inception- building it into a UK charity focused on ending sexual exploitation by addressing its cultural, commercial and policy drivers. Her work centres on reframing sexual exploitation as a systemic, public-interest issue -with particular attention to the normalisation and commercialisation of harm in the digital age. This perspective is informed both by lived experience and by earlier work and volunteering with organisations supporting women in the sex trade and their children in India.  Before founding CEASE, Naomi worked in independent television production, contributing to documentary and drama development. We are proud to have her leading CEASE into this next chapter. #Leadership #CharitySector #SexualExploitation #OnlineSafety #CEASE #WomenAndGirls