Online child grooming offences 'up by 50%' in last year - NSPCC
Grooming offences against children online are up by more than 50% in NI in the last year, according to the NSPCC.
The charity said it had obtained the figures, which show a rise in incidents since new legislation around the crime was brought into effect in February 2017.
There were 127 offences of sexual communication with a child recorded by the PSNI in the year to April 2019 compared with 82 in the previous year (2017-18).
The UK Government has indicated it will publish a draft Online Harms Bill early next year.
Neil Anderson, head of NSPCC Northern Ireland, said: “It’s now clearer than ever that Government has no time to lose in getting tough on these tech firms.
“Despite the huge amount of pressure that social networks have come under to put basic protections in place, children are being groomed and abused on their platforms every single day.
"These figures are yet more evidence that social networks simply won’t act unless they are forced to by law. The Government needs to stand firm and bring in regulation without delay.”