Childline: Government needs to act on concerns over Ofcom’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act
Children everywhere are spending more time than ever online, and while the internet can have huge benefits it also brings risk and danger.
New Home Office statistics showed that police forces in the North East and Cumbria logged 2,914 child sexual abuse image crimes in the last year – an average of around eight offences each day.
Last year, Childline delivered 903 counselling sessions to children and young people relating to blackmail or threats to expose or share sexual images online.
A 13-year-old girl told Childline: “I sent nude pics and videos to a stranger I met on Snapchat. I think he’s in his thirties. I don’t know what to do next.
“I told him I didn’t want to send him any more pictures and he started threatening me, telling me that he’ll post the pictures online. I’m feeling really angry with myself and lonely. I would like support from my friends, but I don’t want to talk to them about it as I’m worried about being judged.”
Tens of thousands of child sexual abuse image crimes continue to be recorded every year by police across the country. These offences cause tremendous harm and distress to young people, with much of this illegal material being repeatedly shared and viewed online.
It is an outrage that in 2025 we are still seeing a blatant disregard from tech companies to take a stand and stop this illegal content being spread on their sites.
The NSPCC has joined with other charities including the Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Barnardo’s, to write a joint letter to the Government raising concerns about Ofcom’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act.
The Act – which the NSPCC fought for more than five years to introduce – is designed to protect children online, but we believe Ofcom’s recently-published Illegal Harms Code of Practice will fail to protect children from the worst forms of abuse on private messaging services.
By stating user-to-user services are only required to remove illegal content where it is ‘technically feasible’, Ofcom’s code creates a loophole letting tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place and enabling crimes to flourish on their platforms.