It's important to recognise that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has long been subject to intentional disinformation from vested interests. These campaigns have had considerable success in convincing the media and public that the problem of CSAM is exaggerated.

Paul & Shirley Eberle published an influential book in 1986 which brokered the argument that allegations of sexual exploitation in daycare centres (including CSAM production) were a “witch hunt”. The Eberles distributed CSAM.

Their argument has been repeated ad nauseam in the press and, incredibly, their books are still cited today in academic literature.

Lawyer Laurence Stanley published “The Child Porn Myth” in 1988, claiming that the prevalence of CSAM was being exaggerated by the government. Stanley distributed CSAM.

Nonetheless, his article was nominated for an award from the Free Press Association by Debbie Nathan, who would go on to cite Stanley in her own writings that claimed to debunk allegations of child sexual exploitation. https://blogs.brown.edu/rcheit/files/2016/04/Awkward-award.pdf

The point here is that CSAM producers are active in shaping public discourse about CSAM under different guises. They want you to believe that CSAM is a “moral panic” and that survivors are liars. They have personal and economic reasons for doing so.

So just keep an eye out for organisations and websites whose main purpose is to assure you that there’s no need for a substantive response to the problem of CSAM.

Credit to @ProfCheit for his incredibly detailed and forensic research in this area. Buy his book! https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Hunt-Narrative-Politics-Psychology-Children/dp/0190465573