Childline: Government needs to hold tech firms to account and make safeguards mandatory
Recently released NSPCC data revealed there were almost 37,000 child sexual abuse image crimes logged by police forces across the UK.
The NSPCC’s Childline counsellors hear from young people here and across the country every day who have experienced abuse online, many of whom have involved sexualised images.
One 17-year-old boy who contacted Childline said: “I shared a nude online and it was leaked, so everyone at school saw it. I was in a really bad way, so I moved schools. The nude pictures still come up as random people message me and blackmail me with them. I'm worried about my new friends seeing them and how the leaked nudes will impact my career in the future.”
Another 14-year-old boy told counsellors: “A girl I was seeing made me send her nudes. I've found out she's been sharing these online and everybody at school has seen them. I'm so upset. I'm also worried that I might get punished for sending them and it will impact my future.”
You might be surprised to learn that tech companies have the ability to install existing technology onto children's phones which would automatically block nude content from being created, shared or viewed in real time.
However, tech companies are choosing not to use this technology which could prevent these offences from happening at all.
Without adequate safety features designed to keep children safe online across all platforms, many young people are exposed to the risk of grooming, extortion, online child sexual abuse and having intimate images shared – all of which can have a devastating impact on a child's life, sometimes well into adulthood.
Every one of these crimes logged by police across the UK represents a child who has been groomed, abused and manipulated.
The NSPCC is continuing to call on tech firms to do better, they can help to eradicate this abuse, simply by installing software on children’s phones. Also, the Government needs to hold them to account, make safeguards mandatory and ensure every child is protected from online abuse.
And Childline will be available on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk around the clock to support any young person who has experienced anything online or in the real world which they need to talk about.