Young people’s views on reporting online harms
The scale of online abuse and harassment among children may be higher than currently thought as research shows many do not report harmful content they face online.
Online safety charity Childnet is warning that children are not reporting online harms, often due to a lack of confidence that anything will be done about the issues they face.
Research from the charity, which is one of the three partners within the UK Safer Internet Centre, shows:
- Fewer than half of young people trust their favourite apps, games and social media platforms to remove content if it is reported to them
- Children and young people are often more likely to block someone behaving inappropriately than report them online
- Nearly a third of children say they sometimes do nothing when they are upset or worried about something online
Will Gardner OBE, Childnet CEO, said: “Understanding how young people are using the safety tools available to them whilst using online services, such as online games and social media, is critical to providing them with the right tools.”
Report Harmful Content
Young people can also visit our helpline. Report Harmful Content is provided by the UK Safer Internet Centre and operated by our partners at SWGfL. It is a national reporting centre that has been designed to support everyone over 13 to report harmful content online. Find out more here.