The incidence of online grooming offences against children has surged over ninefold over six years, attaining unprecedented levels throughout the UK.
Recent statistics gathered by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) indicated that over 7,000 Sexual Communication with a Child crimes were documented by law enforcement last year, reflecting an 89 percent rise during the 2017-18 period when the offence was first enacted.
The youngest victim of online grooming in 2023-24 was a five-year-old male child.
Police Scotland has documented almost 3,000 incidents of online grooming offences in Scotland during the last five years. During the 2023-2024 period, over 670 crimes were documented, reflecting a 13 percent rise relative to the preceding year.
The study indicated that Snapchat was the predominant platform utilised to target youngsters, accounting for nearly fifty percent of the instances in which the mode of contact was revealed.
It was followed by Meta platforms – WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Messaging app Kik ranked fifth and was responsible for five per cent of the cases.
In response, the NSPCC has called for more “ambitious regulation” from Ofcom to ensure platforms adopt a secure-by-design approach, claiming the regulator currently “puts too much focus on acting after harm has taken place”.
It has also urged the UK Government to improve the Online Safety Act, which became law a year ago, and strengthen legislation to ensure child sexual abuse is disrupted in private messages such as on Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “One year since the Online Safety Act became law and we are still waiting for tech companies to make their platforms safe for children.
“We need ambitious regulation by Ofcom, who must significantly strengthen their current approach to make companies address how their products are being exploited by offenders.
“It is clear that much of this abuse is taking place in private messaging which is why we also need the UK Government to strengthen the Online Safety Act to give Ofcom more legal certainty to tackle child sexual abuse on the likes of Snapchat and WhatsApp.”
The new data comes after experts told Holyrood legislative change cannot come quickly enough to protect children from online harm.
The NSPCC’s Voice of Online Youth young people’s group was not surprised at the prevalence of Snapchat in offences.
Lidia, from Glasgow, said: “Snapchat has disappearing messages, and that makes it easier for people to hide things they shouldn’t be doing.
“Another problem is that Snapchat has this feature where you can show your location to everyone. If you’re not careful, you might end up showing where you are to people you don’t know, which is super risky.”
The 13-year-old added: “And honestly, not all the rules in Snapchat are strict, so some people take advantage of that to do bad things. Apps should have better ways for us to report bad things, and they should always get updated to protect us better with the latest security tech.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.