Overview
- Police recorded 122,768 child sexual exploitation offences in England and Wales in 2024, including 51,672 online cases that made up 42% of the total.
- Snapchat accounted for 54% of platform-related reports to police (11,912 incidents), with WhatsApp and Instagram each around 8%, as encryption and disappearing messages complicate investigations.
- Half of recorded offences were child-on-child among 10–17-year-olds, with sharing indecent images the most common offence in that group (64%), and about half of suspects were under 18.
- Acting Chief Constable Becky Riggs urged technology firms to use available tools, including AI and built‑in device protections, to block indecent images and make children’s phones safer by default.
- The government says it currently has no plans for a child social media ban and is observing Australia’s approach, while the NSPCC calls for a national prevalence study and warns many crimes go unreported.