NSPCC Calls for More Online Child Protection

The NSPCC calls on the UK Government to do more to protect children online as live-streaming increases.

20:31 20 October 2018

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has called on the UK government to do more to protect children against online abuse following reports that the number of children who live-stream is far greater than previously thought.

 

A report published by the NSPCC found that more than a quarter of children in Scotland have live-streamed and over one in six have video-chatted with someone they had never met. 

 

Matt Forde, national head for NSPCC Scotland, said: “The popularity of live-streaming has led to increasing risks for children. Its immediacy means children are being pressured into going along with situations that make them feel uncomfortable.

 

“The lure of a big audience, or thinking that they are chatting to someone they can trust, piles on that pressure. What’s really disturbing is that groomers can then screenshot or record live-streamed abuse, and use it to blackmail the child or share it with others.

 

“We urge the public to sign our petition calling on the UK Government to introduce tough regulation of social networks to make sure measures are in place to protect children from abuse over live-streaming and video chat.”