Carlisle MP Julie Minns has urged the media to stop using outdated terms for child sexual abuse.

Ms Minns, speaking at a debate on online safety in the House of Commons, said she had "a clear ask to both the online and offline media and broadcast channels of our country."

Ms Minns said: "Please stop describing these images as ‘kiddie porn’ and ‘child pornography’.

“Please stop describing these images as ‘kiddie porn’ and ‘child pornography’."

"I did a search of some online news channels before I came to this debate; that language is still prevalent, and it has to stop.

"These images are not pornography.

"They are evidence of a crime and evidence of abuse.

"They are not pictures or videos.

"They are depictions of gross assault, sadism and bestiality against children.

"They are obscene images involving penetrative sexual activity with teenagers, children and babies.

"Language matters, and it is time the seriousness of the offence was reflected in the language that describes it.”

She urged that "language matters, and it is time the seriousness of the offence was reflected in the language that describes it."

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) assessed over 390,000 reports last year and confirmed more than 275,000 web pages contained images or videos of children suffering sexual abuse.

Each page, according to the IWF, contained hundreds, if not thousands, of indecent images of children.

The IWF reported that 2023 saw more category A sexual abuse imagery discovered than ever before, with 92 per cent being self-generated child abuse.

This indicates that children were targeted, groomed, and coerced into sexual activities using webcams and camera-equipped devices.

For the first time, the IWF identified and analysed over 2,400 images depicting sexual abuse involving children aged three to six.

Around 91 per cent of those images were of girls, mainly in domestic settings such as their own bedroom or bathroom.

Ms Minns added: "Each image or video is not just a single act; every time it is viewed or downloaded is another time that that child is sexually abused."