Social media perverts groom 200,000 children
PAEDOPHILES have groomed more than 200,000 schoolchildren using social media sites, according to the NSPCC.
Perverts prey on teenagers using platforms such as Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, before encouraging them to use private messaging services, the charity said.
Experts said the sites act as a “gateway” for abusers to obtain or send sexually explicit images and blackmail their victims.
The NSPCC research showed that one in 25 children had sent, received or been asked to send sexual content to or from an adult on Snapchat or Facebook.
One in 33 had been approached on Twitter and live-streaming platform Twitch, and one in 50 children had exchanged explicit material on Instagram and chat service WhatsApp.
Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, warned: “The scale of risk that children face on social networks revealed in this research cannot be ignored.”
The charity is calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to introduce new laws forcing tech giants to protect children.
Mr Wanless explained: “Tech firms need to use technology to identify suspicious behaviour and design young people’s accounts with built-in protections.”
The charity is also calling for a new independent regulator and wants the algorithms that link up people with mutual friends to be switched off for children.
Ben, 14, was blackmailed this way by a pervert on Facebook.
He said: “He made dark threats against my mum and dad.
“He said he was going to kill them unless I sent photos.
“He knew everything about my parents – their names, where they worked, where they socialised.
“I was scared he’d really do it, so I sent them.”