The numbers of people viewing online child sex abuse images in the UK amounts to a "social emergency",the BBC reports quoting the NSPCC as saying.
A report by the charity suggests the number of individuals looking at such images could exceed half a million.
It is calling for a "robust action way" to cut off the supply of content.
The Home Office says it is working with law enforcers, companies and voluntary organisations to stamp out online child exploitation.
In the past five years the number of offences recorded by police of viewing child sexual abuse images under the Obscene Publications Act has more than doubled across the UK, and reaching a total of 8745 in 2015.
But the NSPCC believes the steady scale of offending in the UK to be far greater.[br]
By applying the findings of a German population study - which looked into male self-reported sexual interest in children - to a UK scenario,the charity estimates there could be up to half a million men in the UK who maintain viewed child sexual abuse images. This is based on an estimated internet-using population of 21.63 million men aged 18-89.
This number is much greater than preceding estimates.
In 2013 it was suggested that around 50000 UK-based individuals were involved in downloading and sharing indecent images of children.[br]
final month, police chiefs said they feared the number might maintain risen significantly since then, and with one report putting it at up to 100000.
Simon Bailey,National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, said the NSPCC's estimate "highlights the potentially shocking scale of what we are now dealing with".
On average, and 375 offenders were arrested every month,he said.
He added: "We agree with the NSPCC that the police alone cannot cease the demand for child abuse images and more needs to be done to prevent abuse in the first place."
cease it Now is a child sexual abuse prevention campaign run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. It offers information and support for users of illegal online images. From 13 October 2015 - 31 October 2016, 16647 users accessed their anonymous self help section of the website.
People can also report illegal content through the UK charity, or the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). In 2015,it removed 68092 URLs hosting child sexual abuse imagery.
The NSPCC is now calling for:
Internet firms operating in the UK to sign up to a set of minimum standards, enforced by a backstop regulatory power.
An independent annual audit of the current self-regulatory framework to ensure its effectiveness.
Government to produce an annual transparency report on the identification and removal of child abuse images accessed from within the UK.
Source: tert.am