ExpressVPN Partners with Internet Watch Foundation to Block Known Child Sexual Abuse Material Domains

ExpressVPN, a prominent virtual private network provider, has announced a partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the UK’s leading organization combating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. This initiative makes ExpressVPN one of the first major VPN services to actively restrict access to websites dedicated solely to hosting verified CSAM, using a straightforward DNS-level blocking mechanism derived from the IWF’s trusted list of such domains. According to Dr. Peter Membrey, ExpressVPN’s chief engineering officer, the approach prioritizes user privacy by avoiding any encryption breakage, traffic inspection, or user monitoring, ensuring transparency and maintaining trust in privacy-focused services. The company describes the move as an ideological step rather than a complex technical innovation, highlighting the courage required to be among the first in the industry to take a stand against content universally condemned as criminal and harmful. The IWF has praised the effort, noting a shift in the VPN sector’s willingness to address CSAM differently from other content categories like gambling or pornography, as it is broadly accepted as unequivocally wrong. The technology, named OpenBoundary, will be open-sourced to encourage broader adoption among other VPNs, ISPs, and providers. While some platforms have historically resisted such measures due to privacy concerns or business priorities, this collaboration aims to balance online safety with privacy protections, marking a positive step in industry efforts to curb the spread of CSAM without compromising core VPN principles.