Pierluigi Paganini
April 03, 2025
An international operation, codenamed Operation Stream, against child sexual exploitation shuts down one of the largest streaming platforms that offered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in the world, Kidflix.
The investigation was led by the State Criminal Police of Bavaria (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt) and the Bavarian Central Office for the Prosecution of Cybercrime (ZCB) with the support of Europol. According to Europol, over 35 countries worldwide participated in the operation.
Kidflix had 1.8M users, German and Dutch officials seized its server on March 11, 2025. The operation, which has been ongoing since 2022, identified 1,393 suspects, arrested 79, and seized over 3,000 devices. The authorities confirmed that some suspects also abused children. The investigation has protected 39 children.
“A total of 1.8 million users worldwide logged on to the platform between April 2022 and March 2025. On 11 March 2025, the server, which contained around 72 000 videos at the time, was seized by German and Dutch authorities.” reads the press release published by Europol. “The investigation resulted in the identification of almost 1 400 suspects worldwide. So far, 79 of these individuals have been arrested for sharing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Some of those arrested not only uploaded and watched videos but also abused children. The investigation is ongoing.”
Kidflix, launched in 2021, rapidly became a major CSAM platform, generating huge profits. Users uploaded 91,000 videos, totaling 6,288 hours, with 3.5 new videos added per hour. Unlike other platforms, Kidflix allowed streaming and used cryptocurrency-based payments. Offenders earned tokens by uploading and categorizing content, which they used to access higher-quality versions. Authorities have since shut it down.
“Unlike other known platforms of this kind, Kidflix not only enabled users to download CSAM but also to stream video files. Users made payments using cryptocurrencies, which were subsequently converted into tokens. By uploading CSAM, verifying video titles and descriptions and assigning categories to videos, offenders could earn tokens, which were then used to view content.” continues the press release. “Each video was uploaded in multiple versions – low, medium and high quality – allowing criminals to preview the content and pay a fee to unlock higher quality versions.”
“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.” said Catherine De Bolle, Europol Executive Director. “Some attempt to frame this as merely a technical or cyber issue – but it is not. There are real victims behind these crimes, and those victims are children. As a society, we must act to protect our children.”
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