Nearly half of online grooming in the UK takes place on Snapchat

Recent police data shared with the NSPCC reveals that Snapchat is the most commonly used platform for online grooming in the UK, with nearly 50% of recorded cases of sexual communication with children occurring on the app. Over 7,000 such offences were reported in the year leading up to March 2024, marking a record high since the law was established in 2017.
Becky Riggs from the National Police Chief’s Council described the data as “shocking” and emphasised the urgent need for tech companies to prioritise child safety. Despite Snapchat’s claims of a “zero tolerance” policy toward exploitation, concerns about the app’s design persist. The platform’s features, such as messages that disappear after 24 hours, complicate tracking inappropriate behaviour and make it easier for predators to exploit young users. The gender of the victims of grooming offences was not always recorded by police, but of the cases where it was known, four in five victims were girls. Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said social media companies “have a responsibility to stop this vile abuse from happening on their platforms”. With the upcoming Online Safety Act set to enforce stricter regulations on social media platforms, companies will be required to implement measures to prevent grooming and report illegal content. Media regulator Ofcom who will enforce the rules said: “We’re prepared to use the full extent of our enforcement powers against any companies that come up short when the time comes.” Read more here.