10 year olds at risk of abuse by putting live videos online

MORE than a quarter of tenyear-olds could be at risk from paedophiles because they broadcast live videos via social media, a poll has found.

Research for children’s charity Barnardo’s found that 57 per cent of 12-year-olds and 28 per cent of ten-year-olds had shared live videos on sites such as Facebook Live, YouTube and Snapchat, which claim to have a minimum age of 13 for users.

Barnardo’s recorded a 38 per cent increase in children turning to its child sexual exploitation services since last year.

Nearly half of the children it helps have been groomed online, with two-thirds of them then sexually abused offline.

Javed Khan, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: ‘Tech companies are simply not doing enough to keep children safe. They need to put robust ageverification rules in place.’

The YouGov poll of 1,000 children aged ten to 16 found that 39 per cent were worried that strangers could contact them if they posted live content.

A Facebook spokesman said: ‘Our priority is the safety of people on Facebook and people under 13 are strictly prohibited from having an account.’