Published: Tue 23 Apr 2024
Sexual predators are grooming children under six into performing “disturbing” acts of sexual abuse via phones or webcams a charity has warned.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said it had discovered more than two thousand remotely filmed child abuse images of three to six-year-olds online in 2023.
If follows recent warnings from the communications watchdog Ofcom that almost a quarter of children aged five to seven have a smartphone of their own.
Responding to the report Security Minister Tom Tugendhat urged tech firms to do more to prevent abuse.
He also called on parents "to speak to your children about their use of social media, because the platforms you presume safe may pose a risk”.
The IWF is a charity which helps detect and remove child sexual abuse imagery online.
Read the full article at BBC News.
The girl sent a photo to a boy in her class before the image and her phone number were added to all-male online chat groups - she later started disappearing before being abused by "unknown men".
