Paedophiles targeting Instagram children
Instagram is increasingly being used by paedophiles to groom children for sex, the NSPCC has warned, as police figures reveal a trebling in cases on the site in a year. The image-sharing app was used by groomers 428 times from April to September last year, up from 126 in the same period in 2017, according to police data. Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat accounted for 70 per cent of grooming prosecutions under the new offence of sexual communication with a child.
INSTAGRAM is increasingly being used by paedophiles to groom children for sex, the NSPCC has warned as police figures reveal a trebling in cases on the site in a year.
Instagram was used by groomers 428 times from April to September last year, up from 126 in the same period in 2017, according to police data obtained under Freedom of Information laws by the children’s charity. Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat accounted for 70 per cent of the grooming cases prosecuted for the new offence of sexual communication with a child, which was introduced 18 months ago.
The youngest victim was just five years old. Girls aged 12 to 15 were the most likely to be targeted.
Overall, the number of grooming cases rose year-on-year by 50 per cent from 1,316 to 1,944. In total, police have recorded 5,161 grooming offences since the law was introduced in 2017.
Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “These figures are overwhelming evidence that keeping children safe cannot be left to social networks. We cannot wait for the next tragedy before tech companies are made to act. It is hugely concerning to see the sharp spike in grooming offences on Instagram, and it is vital that the platform designs basic protection more carefully into [its] service.
“After 10 years of failed self-regulation by social networks, it is crucial the Government’s imminent Online Harms White Paper includes new laws that tackle online grooming.”
The Daily Telegraph has been campaigning for a statutory duty of care to protect children from online harm.
Yesterday, Margot James, the digital minister, pledged that the forthcoming White Paper would impose heavy fines on social media firms, similar to those for data breaches, which can be up to 4 per cent of global turnover or €20 million (£17million).
“There will be a powerful sanction regime and it’s inconceivable that it won’t include financial penalties. And they will have to be of a size to act as a deterrent,” she said. The NSPCC data, from 39 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, showed Instagram was used in 32 per cent of cases, Facebook in 23 per cent and Snapchat in 14 per cent.
Andy Burrows, the NSPCC associate head of online child safety, attributed paedophiles’ focus on Instagram to its growing popularity among children and its videos and live streaming.
Recent cases have included Christopher Archer, 23, who breached a sexual harm prevention order to engage four girls aged 12 or 13 in sexual conversation on Instagram.
Last month, Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s chief, told The Telegraph he backed a duty of care, as he announced a ban on self-harm images. A spokesman for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said: “Keeping young people safe is our top priority and child exploitation of any kind is not allowed.”
♦ Youtube will suspend comments on videos featuring children that “could be at risk of attracting predatory behaviour”. The site said it had disabled comments on tens of millions of videos over the past week after a user alleged he had discovered a “wormhole” into a “soft-core paedophile ring”.
Matt Watson, a Us-based video blogger, said he had found instances of paedophiles targeting videos of young girls on the site. Companies including Nestlé and Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, suspended advertising pending investigations into the claims.