Parents in the North West are being asked to monitor who their kids are chatting to on social media
It comes as figures from the NSPCC reveal nearly 2,000 cases of online child sex crimes were reported in the region last year.
Last updated 26th Mar 2021
Facebook’s apps were used in more than half of online child sex crimes, new NSPCC data reveals as the charity calls on the Government to deliver meaningful change in the Online Safety Bill to tackle the biggest threat to children online.
In a single year, police recorded more than 9,470 instances where the means of communication was known in reports of child sex abuse image and online child sex offences - 52% of which took place on Facebook-owned apps.
In the 12 months between October 2019 and October 2020 police forces in the North-West recorded 1,993 online child sex crimes where the method of communication was known. More than half of these (52%), involved Facebook-owned apps.
Instagram was used more than any other Facebook-owned platform, in over a third of all instances.
Meanwhile, Facebook and Messenger were used in a further 13%, according to the data obtained from 35 police forces in England, Wales and the Channel Islands by the NSPCC via Freedom of Information requests.
Jane Kenyon is from Girls Out Loud, a charity which works with vulnerable school girls in and around Lancashire, she said: "We use this excuse a lot, where 'oh you know these people that go online and are predators are very clever and they've worked out how to be anonymous' and I just don't think that's good enough.
"If the technology's there we should know how to use it and we should know how to find the people that are misusing it and I'm pretty sure that we can but we're not resourcing it.
"It's wrecking lives, it's creating serious mental health issues. I coach a lot of girls who've been bullied online or groomed online and it is heartbreaking because it doesn't just impact them for the time it's going on, it changes their life. It puts them in fear, it wrecks their self-esteem and it takes them years to get over."
The NSPCC fears many of these could go unreported if Facebook proceeds with end-to-end encryption without necessary safeguards in place.
They urge the Government to give Ofcom the power to take early and meaningful action against firms whose dangerous design choices put children at risk.
A spokesperson from Facebook said: “Child exploitation has no place on our platforms and we will continue to lead the industry in developing new ways to prevent, detect and respond to abuse.
"For example, last week we announced new safety features on Instagram including preventing adults from messaging under 18s who don't follow them.
“End-to-end encryption is already the leading security technology used by many services to keep people, including children, safe from having their private information hacked and stolen. Its full rollout on our messaging services is a long-term project and we are building strong safety measures into our plans."