British Police says the number of online child grooming crimes it recorded hit a record high in 2022, a children’s charity said on Tuesday.
The charity, therefore, urged progress on stronger cyber safety laws.
Citing data from all British Police forces, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said it recorded 6,350 offences related to sexual communication with a child, last year.
This is an increase of 82 per cent from around five years ago.
NSPCC said British Police recorded 34,000 online grooming crimes against children since it called for social media regulation in 2017.
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It urged parliamentarians and Tech companies to back Online Safety Bill “following new research on the scale of online grooming”.
“The number of offences must serve as a reminder of why the Online Safety Bill is so important.
“That is why the ground-breaking protections it will give children are desperately needed,” Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of NSPCC said.
The bill aims to protect online users by making social media companies more responsible for content published on their platforms.
It has faced delays since it started in the House of Commons. But it is now being considered for the final time in the House of Lords.
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The charity also said that figures showed there were over 5,500 offences against primary school children. And 83 per cent of online grooming offences were against girls.
Papetrators use some 150 apps, games and websites to groom children online.
Data gathered by NSPCC, through freedom of information requests, indicated that 73 per cent of the offences are occurring on Snapchat or Meta-owned platforms.
“It’s now up to tech firms, including those highlighted by these stark figures today, to make sure their current sites and future services do not put children at unacceptable risk of abuse,” Wanless said.
The NSPCC noted that number of online grooming offences and children affected is likely to be higher than currently reported. (Xinhua)
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