Surge in Child Sextortion Cases Alarms UK Authorities
UK sees a 34% rise in reports of minors being blackmailed after sharing sexual images online. Experts call for tech companies to implement nudity detection on phones.
Children in the UK are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the crime. The Report Remove service, which allows children to flag intimate images or videos of themselves that have appeared, or could appear, online, said it received 394 reports from under-18s last year of blackmail attempts after sending sexual images to predators. The figure is 34% higher than in 2024.
Sextortion, or sexual extortion, involves perpetrators coercing victims into sharing intimate content, which is then used to blackmail them. The sharp rise in cases highlights the growing threat faced by young people navigating the digital landscape. Experts are calling for the implementation of nudity detection technology on smartphones and other devices to help combat this disturbing trend.
