More than 100 child sexual abuse image crimes being recorded by police every day

Data shows that private messaging platforms are being exploited by criminals to share child sexual abuse material.

Recently published Home Office data revealed police forces across England and Wales recorded 38,685 child sexual abuse image offences last year (2023/24), an average of more than 100 every day.

A separate Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted to to all 43 police forces in England and Wales, with data also received from the Police Service of Northern Ireland  and Police Scotland, showed that of the 7,338 offences last year where law enforcement recorded the platform used by perpetrators:

• Exactly half took place on Snapchat; and
• A quarter took place on Meta products (11 per cent on Instagram, seven per cent on Facebook and six per cent on WhatsApp).

In addition, the FoI revealed that child sexual abuse offences have reached record levels in Northern Ireland (859 crimes) and remain consistently high in Scotland (748 crimes).

Chris Sherwood, NSPCC chief executive, said: “It is deeply alarming to see tens of thousands of child abuse image crimes continue to be recorded by police. These offences cause tremendous harm and distress to children, with much of this illegal material being repeatedly shared and viewed online. It is an outrage that in 2025 we are still seeing a blatant disregard from tech companies to prevent this illegal content from proliferating on their sites.

“Having separate rules for private messaging services lets tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place. This enables crimes to continue to flourish on their platforms even though we now have the Online Safety Act.”

“The Government must set out how they will take a bold stand against abuse on private messaging services and hold tech companies accountable for keeping children safe, even if it requires changes to the platform’s design – there can be no excuse for inaction or delay.”

Together with charities Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse and Barnardo’s, the NSPCC sent a joint letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle urging action to strengthen Ofcom’s current approach to private messaging.

The letter expresses collective concern regarding Ofcom’s final Illegal Harms Code of Practice published in December 2024. The charities argue that, as it stands, children will not be protected from the worst forms of abuse on private messaging services under Ofcom’s plans, despite this being a core aim of the Online Safety Act.

Ofcom has stated that user-to-user services are only required to remove illegal content where it is “technically feasible”. This exception creates an unacceptable loophole, allowing some services to avoid delivering the most basic protections for children, says the NSPCC.

It added: “Data from police forces on the number of recorded offences where the platform was known indicates private messaging sites are involved in more crimes than any other type of platform. Perpetrators exploit the secrecy offered by these spaces to harm children and go undetected.

“We want the UK Government to push Ofcom to review and strengthen their most recent codes of practice on tackling this threat to children’s safety online.

“We’re also calling for private messaging services, including those using end-to-end encryption, to make sure there are robust safeguards in place to ensure their platforms do not act as a ‘safe haven’ for perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

“End-to-end encryption is a secure communication system where only communicating users can participate. This means that service providers can be blinded to child sexual abuse material being shared through their platform.”

Insight from Childline provides further evidence of how young people are being targeted or blackmailed to share child abuse images via the calculated use of private messaging apps.

Last year, Childline delivered 903 counselling sessions to children and young people relating to blackmail or threats to expose or share sexual images online. This was a seven per cent increase compared with 2022/23.

One 13-year old girl said: “I sent nude pics and videos to a stranger I met on Snapchat. I think he’s in his thirties. I don’t know what to do next. I told him I didn’t want to send him any more pictures and he started threatening me, telling me that he’ll post the pictures online. I’m feeling really angry with myself and lonely. I would like support from my friends, but I don’t want to talk to them about it as I’m worried about being judged.”

The NSPCC said the figure presented for the number of offences where the platform was recorded does not account for Facebook Messenger and “may encompass certain offences that are found within the publicly accessible segments of the platforms”.

Marcus Johnstone of PCD Solicitors,  who specialises in criminal defence for sexual offences, commented: “The data in the NSPCC’s latest report is deeply concerning.  Sadly, I can concur that child sexual abuse image crime is a problem I have seen grow exponentially in recent years.

“At my firm, around 60 per-cent of enquiries relate to digital crimes: sexual communication with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and possession of indecent images. These allegations are incredibly serious, but also often difficult to investigate, owing to a shortage of trained specialist officers to analyse and interpret complex and technical data.

“Messaging platforms like Snapchat and Kik are perfect for the predator, with many layers of encryption, extensive privacy features, and millions of young users. Whilst these platforms have made strides in detection software, in my view what is reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Equally, it is my experience that some reported cases are more nuanced than they first seem: frequently, I represent children and teenagers probed by the police after receiving sexual images from people their own age, or after sending intimate images of themselves. These cases are very complex, continue to rise, and occur at a grey area of the law.

“The Government often talks about keeping the streets safe, and they are right to do so. But when so many serious crimes are committed online, it is the digital world that increasingly requires more policing: by authorities, parents, and the tech giants.”