Investigators from 38 countries, including Belgium, have taken down a major video-sharing site for images of child abuse. It is the biggest ever operation against child abuse in Europe, the police agency Europol and German authorities said on Wednesday.

The platform, known as Kidflix, was taken offline by German and Dutch authorities last month. It had nearly 2 million users worldwide and hosted more than 91,000 videos. According to Europol, it was one of the largest paedophile networks in the world.

Kidflix was founded by cyber criminals in 2021, according to Europol, with its servers being hosted in the Netherlands. Users could pay with crypto coins through a dark web site to watch the videos. On average, a new video appeared on the platform every 3.5 hours.

1,400 suspects

German police say they have been monitoring the platform since early 2022. The investigation led to police raids between 10 and 23 March. More than 3,000 electronic devices were confiscated. Around 1,400 suspects have been identified worldwide and 79 people have been arrested, some of whom are suspected of being actively involved in the abuse.

"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," says Belgium's Catherine De Bolle, Europol's executive director. "As a society, we must act to protect our children."