Mumsnet targeted with child sexual abuse images

In a thread on Mumsnet following the incident, one user said it was "time to rethink" the volunteer moderation system following "the truly awful photos... which I will never un-see".

"The site is big enough and money-making enough to support a better system by now," the user added.

"There really needs to be proper 24-hour IT cover."

Ms Roberts defended the use of volunteer moderators overnight, saying they were based overseas in different time zones "so they can easily monitor the site".

"I don't believe this horrible incident would have been prevented had it happened in office hours with our usual moderation team in London," she said.

"The key is to stop this type of horrific thing being posted on our site in the first place and we're putting all our efforts into preventing that from happening again."

Ms Roberts said the company was "regularly subject to threats and attacks from people who seem to want to derail the conversation on site".

"This latest horrific incident feels like another attempt to do the same," she added.

"Over the years we've been swatted [fake calls to the police], attacked by bots and suffered bomb threats amongst other things.

"Right now our team is very focused on preventing any further such horrific images ever appearing on site and helping the police in their attempts to find the person or persons who posted them."

Ms Roberts said moderators who viewed the images of child abuse have been offered support.

Mumsnet was founded by Ms Roberts in 2000 as an internet forum for parents to swap advice. It says it now has around nine million unique users per month.