Millions of children are being exposed to sexual exploitation and abuse through digital platforms, with about 20 million internet-using children across 21 countries affected in just one year, according to a report from the UN children’s charity UNICEF.
The study estimated that more than one in five children aged 12 to 17 in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe encountered at least one form of online sexual abuse or exploitation during the 12 months before they were surveyed.
About 15 million children said they had been exposed to unwanted sexual content, while 9 million were coerced into sexual conversations or sharing sexual images. A further 4 million had sexual images distributed without their permission, the report found.
UNICEF said the worldwide total is certain to reach many tens of millions of children.
Social media focus
Nearly 60% of the reported abuse took place on social media, with Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok among the platforms most frequently identified. Online gaming accounted for 14% of cases, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, noted that the surveys included data dating back to 2020, before the company introduced protections recommended by UNICEF. Those measures include automatically placing teenagers in private accounts and blocking adults from messaging teens with whom they are not connected. Meta also said it considers WhatsApp a private messaging service rather than a social media platform.
The spokesperson said the report offered no specific evidence of abuse but added that Meta would continue working to combat child exploitation across its apps and assist law enforcement in bringing those responsible to justice.
Snapchat referred Reuters to a blog post by Jacqueline Beauchere, its Global Head of Platform Safety. She said the company was taking active steps against online sexual extortion, including proactive detection, removing accounts, expanding user-reporting tools and introducing safety features aimed at protecting vulnerable users.
TikTok said it had implemented multiple safeguards for minors. These include limiting certain features for younger users, setting accounts belonging to under-18s to private by default and deploying technology designed to identify potentially predatory behaviour.
More than half of the cases examined by UNICEF involved someone the child already knew, such as a friend, relative or romantic partner. In 38% of cases, however, children said they first encountered the perpetrator online.
The research found that fewer than 1% of incidents involving children were reported to police, a social worker or a helpline.
The report also pointed to the rapidly developing risks associated with artificial intelligence. In the nine countries where relevant data was gathered, an estimated 1.1 million children said AI-generated sexual images or videos had been made depicting them.
Children who had experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation were about four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or self-harm. They also recorded substantially higher levels of anxiety than children who had not experienced such abuse, the research found.
“These experiences cause profound emotional and mental distress. Many children suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for help,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
UNICEF called on governments and technology companies to reinforce protections on digital platforms, bring laws into line with emerging forms of abuse — including AI-generated sexual content — and strengthen systems for protecting children and reporting incidents.
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