The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) reported that more than 7,000 'Sexual Communication with a Child' offences were recorded by police last year.

The charity points to tech companies, calling for stricter accountability. Messaging apps like Snapchat are singled out as prominent platforms for online grooming.

The NSPCC Policy and Regulatory Manager, Rani Govender, said tech companies have "failed to grapple with the problem".

"We'd like tech companies to really build children's safety into the design of their services rather than relying on children having to spot abuse and then report it" she said.

"Tech companies need to be held accountable for this."

Abhorrent offences

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Police described the offences as "abhorrent" and said a "dedicated and committed" team of officers was working to "eradicate" them.

The police spokesperson noted that young people face increased pressure to share intimate images online.

"Combined with an increase in access to phones and devices, young people are now more vulnerable to these types of offences" the spokesperson suggested.

To counteract this trend, Gloucestershire Police plan to launch a campaign through the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children's Partnership. The focus of the campaign is to heighten awareness of online dangers.

Avon and Somerset Police acknowledged that the introduction of a new law may have naturally driven an increase in reports. A spokesperson also pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor, with higher online activity exposing children to increased risks.

Stronger preventative measures needed

Data revealed the most common platforms perpetrators used to target children. They were Snapchat (48 percent), WhatsApp (12 percent) and Facebook Messenger (10 percent).

Perpetrators typically used mainstream and open web platforms as the first point of contact with children.

The NSPCC has called on the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to strengthen its regulatory framework to ensure tech companies act proactively against child exploitation.

The charity argues that the regulator's current policies focus too heavily on reacting to incidents after harm occurs.

The NSPCC also advocates for legislation to safeguard children in private messaging spaces. It argues that stronger preventative measures are crucial in combating online grooming.

Sources

BBC

Education Business

CathNews New Zealand

The Child Exploitation Offences Amendment Bill passed into law recently, making it illegal for adults to lie about their age or identity to meet up with a minor or to communicate with them intending to cause harm.

Previously, a defendant had to have met or travelled to meet the young person they had targeted - or arranged or persuaded that young person to travel to meet them. The new law is a significant shift in policy that broadens the scope of criminal offences related to child exploitation.

However, the police are expressing concern that end-to-end encryption of online chat streams prioritises privacy over protection, making it more difficult for them to identify and track online sex offenders.

As part of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), New Zealand police are calling on social media platforms to recognise their responsibility to protect children and to prioritise robust safety systems to safeguard them from online sexual abuse.

End-to-end encryption is used by platforms like Facebook, Signal and WhatsApp to protect messages or data sent from one device to another, and only the intended recipient can open the messages. This protection makes it challenging for law enforcement agencies to access communication where they believe crimes are being committed.

In 2022 the government established a cross-agency working group to analyse the problem, tasked with producing a final report by mid-2023. The VGT comprises 15 law enforcement agencies cooperating with industry and non-governmental organisations focused on child sexual abuse.

Prolific child abuser used Facebook

According to the task force, one of the UK's most prolific child sexual abuse offenders, David Wilson, used Facebook to contact thousands of children by pretending to be a teenage girl. He manipulated victims to send sexually explicit material of themselves and, in some cases, blackmailed victims into abusing their siblings and friends.

The successful prosecution of Wilson was possible because law enforcement could access the evidence contained within over 250,000 messages through Facebook. In an end-to-end encryption environment, it is highly unlikely this case would have been detected.

In 2020, Justice Minister Andrew Little and the Five Eyes security group called on social media companies to allow governments to access encrypted data. Australia recently passed legislation permitting the government to force businesses to share data protected by encryption, citing that over 95% of its counter-terrorism targets use encrypted communications.

Police recommend that parents talk about their children's online activities, supervise them, and research and understand app settings, including privacy settings. They encourage parents to be approachable if their child needs help and emphasise that speaking to them or any other trusted adult is okay if something doesn't feel right.

Sources

Stuff

RNZ

New Zealand Police Statement On End-to-End Encryption