Reporting
Reporting illegal and harmful online content
The internet can host a wide range of online content that audiences worldwide can experience and enjoy. Most of the time, content can be positive, insightful, and valuable but unfortunately, it can also be harmful, damaging, and sometimes illegal. Because of this, reporting plays an essential role in making sure the internet is a safe and positive place for children and young people.
Best practices for parents and carers
Know when to report
If you or your child has seen something online that is illegal, upsetting or harmful, then it is always best to report it. Remember, illegal content includes sexual images of under 18s and unlawful terrorist content. You can also report something that may be legal but is still considered harmful such as content that includes bullying, self-harm or suicide, impersonation, online abuse, threats, violence, unwanted sexual advances or pornographic content across non-adult sites.
Report to the correct place
Depending on the content, reports need to go to specific places for the correct support. If you want to report child sexual abuse material, go to the Internet Watch Foundation. If it is terrorist content, visit ACT (Action Counters Terrorism). Many online platforms also have reporting functions available to users. Make sure you utilize these when experiencing harmful online content. You can go to Report Harmful Content to find out how to report across some of the most well-known social media sites and other popular online platforms.
Understand community guidelines
Many online platforms will have their own community guidelines when it comes to harmful online content. If you are looking to report a piece of content, it must violate the platforms community guidelines in order to be taken down. Familiarise yourself with each platform’s expectations towards behaviours and understand why certain reports will be actioned and others may not. If you have made an unsuccessful report but still feel it violates community standards, you can then visit Report Harmful Content for further escalation and review.
Encourage reporting
Reporting is a practice that can work towards making the internet a safer place for all. Ignoring a piece of harmful online content can lead towards others experiencing harm. Encourage discussion around the importance of children and young people reporting upsetting content to a parent, carer, or trusted adult. This can add to further awareness and critical thought around what is harmful online content and ways we can all tackle it.
Best practices for schools
and professionals
Signpost reporting channels
Show your community where to go to for reporting. This could be Report Harmful Content (13+), Report Remove from IWF & Childline (Under 18s) or using the anonymous communication tool Whisper by SWGfL.
Educate around reporting
Teach your school about the importance of reporting as well as raising awareness around what illegal and harmful online content is. Find out more here.
Escalating concerns
Make sure you are aware of who to go to in your school or organisation if you have concerns about someone experiencing harmful online content. This could be the designated safeguarding lead, the head of year or someone from the senior leadership team.
Resources
Useful links
Useful links from the UK Safer Internet Centre and other organisations about reporting
Articles
Reports to Report Harmful Content rise by 31% in 2023
Report Harmful Content has published its latest data from 2023, giving new insights into how the service supported people across…
UK Safer Internet Centre Sees Concerning Rise in Animal Abuse Content
Our service Report Harmful Content has seen a significant rise in animal abuse reports across social media channels.
Meta Announces New Protections to Protect Teens from Harmful Content Online
Meta has announced new content policies to help protect teenagers from viewing harmful content across Facebook and Instagram.
Online Safety Bill – How the UK Safer Internet Centre Campaigned for Online Appeals Processes
In this article, we explain our journey towards how we campaigned for stronger online appeals processes to be included as…