For the majority of the adults, social media platforms are considered a space full of opportunities whereas for children these platforms are increasing the sexual grooming offenses than ever.
According to a report by NSPCC, more than 34 percent of sexual grooming offenses happen more on Instagram as compared to any other social networks and that is something to be worried about. As the usage of social media apps is increasing every day and so is the risk of sexual predators for grooming children online via social media platforms.
Groomers use social media to engage with children and later on move the children to encrypted platforms so with this rule it will be difficult for groomer to access children via social apps.
Breck Bednar was a kid who befriended on social media, someone he thought was a friend but instead turned out to be his murder. Breck is a victim of sexual grooming that happens on social apps, he was just 14 and made a friend through gaming online but turns out that man was everything else other than a friend.
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According to a report by NSPCC, more than 34 percent of sexual grooming offenses happen more on Instagram as compared to any other social networks and that is something to be worried about. As the usage of social media apps is increasing every day and so is the risk of sexual predators for grooming children online via social media platforms.
Cases of Child grooming
The cases of strangers befriending children on social platforms and abuse them have been increased by more than 36% since last year. According to a report by NSPCC, 70% of grooming cases start with likes on Instagram and Facebook. More than 34% of sexual befriending on social platforms happens on Instagram that is more than any other social media platform since last year. Around 20% of children targeted for sexual grooming were under 12 years and some were even just of pre-school age.New law soon to be launched
Children are now at risk until a new social media grooming law is launched. In last April, the government launched online harms white paper to introduce the working of social platforms independently with strong reactions if they fail to keep the children safe on their social platforms.Groomers use social media to engage with children and later on move the children to encrypted platforms so with this rule it will be difficult for groomer to access children via social apps.
Breck Bednar was a kid who befriended on social media, someone he thought was a friend but instead turned out to be his murder. Breck is a victim of sexual grooming that happens on social apps, he was just 14 and made a friend through gaming online but turns out that man was everything else other than a friend.
The purpose behind the workings of NSPCC
NSPCC is trying hard to secure the accounts of young children with the highest privacy settings and location information off by default. Along with NSPCC, Facebook is also trying to fight child exploitation on its platform by using a variety of new tools to detect and remove grooming on its platform. The reports submitted to social platforms also get investigated by a team more of than 30,000 people who respond within 24 hours.Conclusion
All social media people aren’t bad, but what we want for our children is to know the stuff that alarms the other person might be a sexual groomer. Children need to feel safe on social networks and if a child like Breck knew more about grooming or exploitation he might still be here living with his parents. Predators are trying out new strategies to access children and violate them and the only solution to keep your children safe is by preparing children to spot groomers and move away from them.
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