A new law will seek to cover a loophole which means that paedophiles who ask children to send them explicit selfies online could face up to two years on prison.
It comes as part of a raft of new measures unveiled by the government today as part of an international crackdown tackling child sexual exploitation.
Internet giant Google has developed pioneering new technology which identifies horrific videos of child sex abuse, and blocks it from being shared online.
Researchers behind the search engine will now share the algorithm with the wider industry as part of a global crackdown on online child sex abuse imagery.
At a major summit in London today, Microsoft, Google and Mozilla are also set to outline plans for browser-level restrictions to prevent people from accessing web addresses containing known child abuse material.
Meanwhile, they and other major online firms such Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo will use 'digital fingerprints' of child sex abuse images and videos, identified by the Internet Watch Foundation, to prevent them being shared on their services.
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a raft of new measures to tackle child sexual exploitation but how effective will they be?
Experts predict it could make up as much as 96 per cent of online content. But what exactly is the 'darknet'? And how worried should we be?
New laws will seek to cover a loophole which can allow online paedophiles to request explicit selfie pictures from children