A massive dark web platform used for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has been dismantled following coordinated international law enforcement action. Operation Stream, led by Bavarian authorities with Europol support, has resulted in 79 arrests and the identification of nearly 1,400 suspects worldwide.

## Operation Details

Kidflix, active since 2021, was shut down on March 11, 2025, when German and Dutch authorities seized its servers. The platform had hosted approximately 72,000 videos at the time of seizure and had served 1.8 million users globally between April 2022 and March 2025.

The investigation, which began in 2022, has led to:
– 79 arrests
– 1,393 suspects identified across 35 countries
– Over 3,000 electronic devices seized
– Warning conversations with suspects between March 10-21

## Platform Operations

What made Kidflix particularly concerning was its sophisticated operation:
– Hosted over 91,000 unique videos totaling 6,288 hours of content
– Added approximately 3.5 new videos hourly
– Offered streaming capabilities, unlike similar platforms
– Utilized a cryptocurrency token system where users could earn tokens by uploading content, verifying video details, and categorizing material
– Provided multiple quality versions of videos, allowing users to preview content before paying to unlock higher quality versions

Europol analysts from the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) played a crucial role by analyzing thousands of videos to provide evidence supporting the investigation.

The operation revealed that many suspects were repeat offenders already known to law enforcement, highlighting the persistent nature of these crimes.