Rise in children groomed to send sex abuse images of themselves

CHILDREN are increasingly being groomed or coerced by adults into sexually abusing themselves on camera.

MPs have warned of a ‘disturbing’ rise in so-called ‘self-generated’ child sexual abuse material, especially during the pandemic.

In the first six months of 2021, the Internet Watch Foundation recorded a 117 per cent increase in abusive images and videos created using webcams or smartphones.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media said social media firms must not encrypt messages unless they can keep platforms free of illegal content. And it says the Home Office must review legislation to ensure it is easier for children to have their online images removed.

APPG chairman Labour MP Chris Elmore said firms ‘need to get a grip, with institutional re-design, including the introduction of a duty-of-care on the part of companies toward their young users’. Susie Hargreaves, of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said: ‘The Report Remove tool we launched this year with Childline empowers young people to have illegal images of themselves removed.’