Children in UK report online sextortion attempts in record numbers | Meta
Children in the UK are reporting record numbers of online sextortion attempts as campaigners call on tech companies to do more to stamp out crime.
The Report Remove service, which allows children to flag intimate images or videos of themselves that appear or may appear online, said it received 394 reports of blackmail attempts from young people under 18 after sending sexual images to predators last year. This figure is 34% higher than in 2024.
Sex blackmail is the term used for manipulating a person into sending an explicit selfie or video to an attacker, who then threatens to post it online unless the victim sends money or other intimate images. 98 percent of blackmail victims are boys between the ages of 14 and 17.
Sexual blackmail has been linked to the suicides of many British teenagers who killed themselves after receiving extortion threats. The parents of one of the victims, 16-year-old Murray Dowey from Dunblane, are suing Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for allegedly failing to take adequate precautions to protect their son.
The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), an internet safety charity, said tech companies needed to do “much more” to thwart blackmail attempts and called on the government to demand more action from social media platforms where the initial grooming of victims often takes place. MRF added that it is necessary for Apple and Google, owners of iOS and Android mobile phone operating systems, to implement nudity detection technology.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a watchdog that runs Report Remove alongside the NSPCC’s Childline service, has also backed calls for nudity detection on devices.
“It’s clear to us that if companies aren’t going to do this on their own, the government needs to step in to enable them to do it,” said Hannah Swirsky, IWF’s head of policy.
The NSPCC said the figures show that anti-nudity detection should be made mandatory on devices.
Murray Dowey’s mother Ros said the latest data was “terrible and disappointing”. He said: “How long will it take for social media companies to take responsibility when they were fully aware that crimes were being committed on their platforms but failed to put security measures in place?”
Murray’s father, Mark, added that they will keep the issue on the agenda until their case against Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, reaches the court.
“Public perception seems to be turning against social media platforms, but these companies are still causing losses despite claiming to have greater security measures in place. If it worked, the numbers should come down.”
Sexual blackmail predators use various platforms as well as the same measures used by social media companies: share tips About threats to child safety conducted by the Tech Coalition group.
If a child contacts Report Remove and uploads a private image of themselves to the service, the system converts those images into a “hash,” or digital fingerprint, shared with leading technology platforms, which can remove the image or block it from being uploaded. Report Remove does not share the image itself with any technology company.
Kerry Smith, chief executive of the IWF, said it was “difficult to understand” the true impact of the latest sextortion figures on children’s lives because other unknown victims may not have been aware of the Report Takedown service and may not have come forward.
“Criminals cast their net wide and can corner young people with the most violent and terrifying threats,” he said. “They resort to emotional manipulation and use intimidating, aggressive language and threats that escalate quickly after nude photos are taken.”
Shaun Friel, director of Childline, said one positive of the figures was that children were becoming aware of the platform and were more willing to use it. The report said Remove provides young people with a way to “take back control”.
Lift Report data for 2025 showed that the number of people under 18 seeking help from the service had increased by 66% in one year; Of the 1,894 reports, 1,175 referred to images that were graphic enough to be classified as child sexual abuse material. The number of videos reported to the service also increased by 27% to 509.
A Google spokesperson said the company was “committed” to preventing sextortion and had invested in “industry-leading” protections. “Tackling this issue requires constant work, and our approach, informed by victims, survivors and experts, is constantly evolving,” they said.
Apple declined to comment. The company operates a “communication security” system that warns people under the age of 18 if they receive or attempt to send video images that may contain nudity. Google Messages, the default messaging app on Google systems, has the option to turn on “sensitive content warnings.”
Meta, who declined to comment, uses platforms such as Lantern, which allow tech companies to share intelligence on child safety threats; This is a reflection of the fact that sextortion criminals use multiple platforms. The company also launched a nudity protection feature that blurs nude images shared in direct messages.
Meta continues to challenge the lawsuit filed by the Doweys in the United Kingdom and other families in the United States.
Jess Phillips, the minister responsible for the protection and protection against violence against women and girls, said children were driven to suicide “too often” due to child sexual abuse and blackmail. “This reality weighs on me every day, and I will do everything I can to make the online world safer for our children,” he said.
It was last year reported The UK government wanted tech companies to block sexually explicit images and was considering making this a requirement for devices sold in the UK.
