Instagram the most used platform in child grooming crimes in Surrey during lockdown
The NSPCC is warning cases could rise again during the second lockdown.
Last updated 13th Nov 2020
A children's charity is appealing to the government to take urgent action - as latest data reveals Instagram was the most used platform for potential online groomers over lockdown.
The NSPCC says there were more than 1,200 online grooming crimes recorded against children in the three months from April to June across the UK.
It says figures from Surrey, Sussex and Kent police forces show there were 114 recorded cases in that period.
In Surrey, it was used in 36% of cases where the platform was recorded, compared with 29% over the previous three years.
Overall, in England and Wales, Freedom of Information responses from 38 police forces show Facebook-owned apps (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) were used in 51% of instances where the means of communication was recorded.
Snapchat was used in 20% of instances for which data was available.
The NSPCC has "warned the pandemic had created a perfect storm for online offenders" and that numbers could continue to rise, with ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
It said with more children online, and video chatting and livestreaming now more popular, criminals are exploiting current circumstances.
The findings have led to renewed calls for Boris Johnson to get tough on tech firms that fail to do enough to prevent offenders exploiting their sites and abusing children.
The new data comes as the Prime Minister makes vital decisions about online harms legislation that will create a Duty of Care on tech firms, with an announcement expected within weeks.
The Prime Minister is being urged to ensure companies and named managers can be held criminally responsible for failing to protect children from avoidable harm and abuse.
The offence of Sexual Communication with a Child came in in April 2017 after a campaign by the NSPCC, making it illegal for an adult to send a sexual message to a child.
The NSPCC wants the upcoming Online Harms Bill to compel firms to consider child protections when they design their sites to prevent harm rather than react once the damage is done.
But it is warning tough deterrents will be needed - and is concerned the Government may not go far enough.
NSPCC Chief Executive Peter Wanless said:
"Families have long paid the price for big tech’s failure to protect children from abuse, but the Prime Minister has the chance to turn the tide and put responsibility on firms to clean up the mess they created.
"As the pandemic intensifies the threat children face online, bold and ambitious action is needed in the form of a world-leading Online Harms Bill.
"This means legislation that is tough on online crimes against children and regulation that holds tech companies and bosses financially and criminally responsible if they continue to turn a blind eye to entirely avoidable harm."
Last month the NSPCC laid out six tests the Government’s regulation of social media will be judged on if it is to achieve bold and lasting protections for children online.
The charity said in order to make the UK a world-leader in child protection online, regulation must:
Create an expansive, principles-based duty of care
Comprehensively tackle online sexual abuse
Put legal but harmful content on an equal footing with illegal material
Have robust transparency and investigatory powers
Hold industry to account with criminal and financial sanctions
Give civil society a legal voice for children with user advocacy arrangements