Trolls posted vile child sexual abuse images on Mumsnet, sparking a row over how the popular parenting forum is governed.
Dozens of shocking pictures were plastered over the website by anonymous members on Sunday night.
Users complained that a reliance on volunteer moderators means the London-based site – which has annual revenue of around £8 million – is left virtually unguarded overnight.
Last night, Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts CBE said new controls would be implemented, including an AI system that can detect offensive images before they are posted.
‘As a temporary measure, we have suspended the ability to post images on the site,’ she said. ‘We’re also liaising with external specialists to see if there are any further tools we can employ to help us prevent this from happening again in the future.
‘We reported it to the Met Police first thing the morning after the attack and we have a follow up meeting with them booked in.
‘We only have limited data, though the police seem confident they have the tools to track [the perpetrators] down.’
She added the incident would not have unfolded differently if it had happened during office hours, when Mumsnet is overseen by a paid moderation team based in London.
But Mumsnet members voiced concerns that the volunteer ‘Night Watch’ moderators should not be relied upon.
One posted: ‘Mumsnet is a business, not a charity or voluntary organisation.. There is no justification for using volunteers. I urge the Night Watch to rethink their choice to help out a commercial business who should be using paid moderators.’
Another wrote: ‘After the truly awful photos that have been posted, which I will never un-see, I think you need to have a different policy for overnight moderation.
‘The site is big enough and money-making enough to support a better system by now.’
Mumsnet is the UK’s most popular online forum for parents, with around nine million unique visitors clocking up more than 120 million page views per month.
It makes money through advertising, product-placement deals and premium membership subscriptions.
Ms Roberts said the site is ‘quite regularly’ threatened and attacked by ‘people who seem to want to derail the conversation’.
She told BBC News: ‘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.’
She added that moderators who viewed images of child abuse have been offered support.
As well as swapping parenting tips, members discuss a variety of topics including feminism, style and beauty, holidays and television.
The company is due to meet the Metropolitan Police following the incident on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment.