Would-be child abusers are being 'normalised' online because tech firms are refusing to get a grip on tackling computer algorithms, cybercrime bosses have warned.
Advances in technology and the reliance on online platforms to communicate are significantly increasing the opportunities for offenders to engage with and sexually abuse children.
And Rob Jones, director general operations at the National Crime Agency, warned powerful computer systems are actually drawing paedophiles together.
'I think societally, things have changed because of the normalisation of this behavior online, and that is a really big concern to us.
'We have got more access to children online, and we've got behaviors where people who have an interest are able to pursue it, and they will encounter people online who will try and normalise their behavior.'
We have got more access to children online, and we've got behaviors where people who have an interest are able to pursue it, and they will encounter people online who will try and normalise their behavior.'
He said algorithms meant abusers would potentially be driven towards online content which reinforces their warped beliefs, rather than challenging them.
'Because of the way algorithms drive people with like-minded interests together, because of the way people operate, they will be told that what they are doing is normal,' he said.
'It will be rationalised, it will be normalised, and then you will see almost a radicalisation process where their behavior will be encouraged.
Rob Jones, director general operations at the National Crime Agency, warned powerful computer systems are actually drawing paedophiles together
'They will be told that everything they've been told that it's wrong throughout their life is the opposite.'
He said there are up to an estimated 840,000 people in the UK with a sexual interest in children.
Statistically, the NCA said that meant potential offenders wre in every community and victims in every school.
He said developments in technology - such as AI tools to create naked images - mean that the protection and safeguarding of children is now at a critical level.
Temporary Chief Constable Becky Riggs, National Police Chiefs' lead for child protection and abuse investigation, said: 'We need technology companies to act with urgency to make their platforms hostile environments for offenders.
'That means developing and implementing solutions that prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images online, improving the detection of child sexual abuse material, and ensuring platforms are built safer by design.'
In December, two major studies suggested there were more than a million child abuse incidents in England and Wales last year - with only one in ten being reported to police.
A record-breaking 123,000 child sexual abuse and exploitation were recorded by police, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.
But police said the vast majority remain largely unreported and unidentified.