No one can deny that the internet, especially social media, can pose significant dangers. Now, a new survey has found that about one in five parents and carers know—and have supported—a child who has experienced online blackmail.
The survey, from the U.K.’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), also showed that one in ten of these individuals’ own children have experienced blackmail online.
According to the NSPCC, bad actors often start communicating with young people on public platforms before actively moving the conversation to end-to-end encrypted messaging services—making it more challenging for them to be tracked.
Only 43% of parents and carers found tech companies or platforms effective in preventing online blackmail, and just 37% thought the same of the government. “These findings show the scale of online blackmail that is taking place across the country, yet tech companies continue to fall short in their duty to protect children,” NSPCC policy manager Randi Govender said in response to the report.
Some participants blamed online platforms for failing to care about children’s welfare. As one said, “They have no interest whatsoever. As long as they get their money from marketing, that’s good enough for them.” Another individual pointed to AI’s role: “I personally don’t feel like they do enough to remove the damaging content fast enough and rely too heavily on AI rather than humans.”
The NSPCC also pointed to the role of AI in online blackmail, with bad actors sometimes using generative AI to create compromising deepfakes of children using regular photos of them on social media.
Online blackmailing of young people is a global problem
While the survey was of 2,558 U.K. parents and carers, online blackmailing of children is also running rampant in the U.S. In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported 29.2 million separate child sexual exploitation incidents sent to its CyberTipline.
The FBI also reports an increase in financial sextortion cases, in which a blackmailer—often posting as a young person—convinces a child to send sexually explicit images and then demands the child send compensation or they will release the images. Oftentimes, they publish it whether they’ve received a payment or not.
Instances of online blackmail can lead to young people attempting suicide.
The role of parents in preventing online blackmailing
The NSPCC survey highlights a shortfall in discussions between parents and children about online blackmail. About two in five parents and carers said they’ve rarely or never talked about the subject with their children. They want and need more resources about online blackmailing, but also point to schools as another place children should learn about its dangers.