Streaming apps ‘used to exploit children aged eight’

●Barnardo’s says ever younger victims being targeted through ‘live’ services

Children as young as eight are being sexually exploited online, Barnardo’s, the UK’S largest children’s charity, has revealed.

The popularity of live streaming services like Tiktok is contributing to younger children needing to access specialist help after being exploited online, the charity says.

Children using streaming services can be contacted by predators using the comments function on live videos, the charity warns.

In previous years Barnardo’s youngest child sexual exploitation service users were aged ten.

Broadcasting videos live over the internet has become very popular among children and young people.

A survey by Yougov for Barnardo’s in 2018 found 57 per cent of 12-yearolds and more than one in four children aged ten (28 per cent) admitted live streaming content over the internet using apps meant for people over the age of 13.

Almost a quarter of ten to 16-yearolds (24 per cent) said they or a friend regretted posting live content on apps and websites.

The warning comes amid growing concerns about the online safety of children. Last month, the father of a 14-year-old girl, Molly Russell, who took her own life, said Instagram “helped kill my daughter” after she viewed material on the social media site linked to anxiety, depression, selfharm and suicide.

Yesterday Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright said he will write to Tinder and Grindr asking what measures they have in place to keep children safe after an investigation found youngsters had been sexually exploited after evading age checks on the dating apps.

Marguerite Hunter Blair, chief executive of the charity Play Scotland, is calling on social media companies to offer online coaching for parents to teach them how to protect their children.

Barnardo’s stressed that all children are vulnerable and there is no stereotypical “at risk” profile for victims of any type of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Launching an appeal to fund its child exploitation services, Javed Khan, the charity’s chief executive, said: “When we think of young people who have been sexually exploited,

a stereotypically ‘vulnerable’ child may come to mind; someone in the care system, who doesn’t have a reliable support network or who is disengaged with education.

“But the fact is any child can become the victim of sexual exploitation or abuse, even children in loving, stable families. Without the right security settings, children broadcasting live video of themselves over the internet could be targeted by abusers in their bedrooms.

“It’s vital parents get to know and understand the technology their children are using and make sure they have appropriate security settings in place. They should also talk to their children about sex and relationships and the possible risks and dangers online so children feel able to confide in them if something doesn’t feel right.

“We are also calling for a legal duty on technology companies to prevent children being harmed online.”

Ruby was in a loving family when she was groomed and abused. She started using adult dating apps, sending explicit pictures and videos of herself to people online. She was 14 when she met one of the men and had sex for the first time. Ruby said: “Deep down I knew it was wrong and I began to regret it. I was still just 14 and hadn’t been ready. I met another boy and I believed I loved him.

“I felt it was my responsibility to make him happy. He would Skype me during the night and force me to stay awake with him. He wouldn’t speak to me if I didn’t.

“Eventually my parents caught me and it felt as if my entire world had finally fallen to pieces. All of the things I had done, and had been done to me, were out in the open. The feeling of self-disgust was so strong that it made me want to tear out my own skin just so that I would feel clean.”

Ruby was referred to a Barnardo’s project worker who taught her to understand grooming.

There has been much debate in recent weeks about the dangers facing young people online.

The tragic case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life after viewing images of self-harm on Instagram, has brought about intense pressure on internet firms to do more to protect their users. In Instagram’s case, that has meant a commitment to remove all images such as those Molly looked at.

But while this is a hugely welcome development, it is only one response to a problem that requires much more action.

Today, Barnardo’s warns that children as young as eight years old are being sexually exploited online by predators who use popular streaming sites to make contact with their victims.

The findings of the charity’s research into this problem make chilling reading. Children watching perfectly innocuous internet live streams can be contacted directly through comment sections by sexual predators posing as peers.

This is a danger that reaches across society. Children in protective, supportive families – whose parents believed they had done everything necessary to ensure their safety – have fallen victim to persuasive strangers who have groomed and then abused them.

Barnardo’s report into this problem comes after it emerged that the UK Government is to demand answers from the owners of dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr about what measures they have in place to protect children.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright described as “truly shocking” the fact that police have investigated 30 cases of child rape – and a further 60 other sex offences – where victims evaded age checks to use such apps.

For too long internet companies have sought to wash their hands of any responsibility for any negative effects of the services they provide. That position is no longer tenable.

The internet is part of all of our lives now. From social media to shopping to reading the latest news, the net can be a great, useful resource. But nobody can be in any doubt, surely, that it can be deeply dangerous.

Yes, it is incumbent upon parents to do all that they can to ensure the safety of their children but it is quite clear that internet companies must do more, too.

And the Government must ensure those companies which fail in this duty are subject to the most severe sanctions.