UNICEF study finds 60% of online child sexual abuse happens on social media
Around 20 million children experienced sexual exploitation or abuse online in a single year across 21 countries, according to a UNICEF study published on Thursday. That is roughly one in five internet-using children aged 12 to 17 in the countries surveyed. The findings come from “Through Children’s Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Sexual Abuse”…
- Why it matters
- The study establishes baseline prevalence across major economies, with findings that 60% of documented abuse occurs on social media platforms where billions of young users operate daily.
- Most affected
- Children aged 12-17 in the 21 surveyed countries — One in five experienced online sexual exploitation or abuse in the measured year.
- Likely next
- whether UNICEF releases the full list of 21 countries studied and their individual prevalence rates, or whether major social media platforms publicly respond to the findings.