The number of children reporting sextortion scams to the NSPCC has more than doubled, the charity has revealed, as the government deadline for Big Tech firms to implement nudity-blocking technology on children's devices expires today.
New data shared exclusively with Metro shows that Childline counselling sessions about financially motivated sexual extortion (sextortion) rose to 242 between April 2025 and March 2026, up from 120 in 2024/25 and 103 in 2023/24. The sessions were part of 2,444 counselling sessions about online child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Victims and tactics
The NSPCC said a large proportion of cases involved male victims aged 14 to 17 who had been tricked into sending naked images to criminals. Some young people had already sent money to perpetrators, hoping to be left alone, only to face further demands for higher ransoms or regular instalments. Criminals threatened to expose children's nude images unless they paid sums ranging from £20 to £3,000. Many were tricked by fake profiles of people they thought they knew.
Rani Govender, the NSPCC's Head of Child Safety Online, told Metro: “This is a very real concern impacting children in the UK. Sextortion is incredibly distressing for children. When they get in contact with Childline, they feel completely helpless. We know this can have such a devastating toll on children, which is why we are so focused on stopping this happening in the first place.”
Government deadline and platform responses
The deadline for Apple and Google to activate device-level nudity safeguards, set by Sir Keir Starmer in his last act as Prime Minister, expires today. Neither company has announced the measures requested by ministers. Google's Sensitive Content Warnings blur sensitive imagery in Google Messages for supervised users and signed-in unsupervised teens, but the feature covers images only, not video. Apple has introduced age checks for iPhone users, which activate safety features as default for those not verified as over 18, but nudity detection is not applied to the camera or broader apps.
Chris Sherwood, NSPCC CEO, said: “Children can't continue to bear the brunt of tech companies' inaction and excuses. Apple and Google needed to urgently introduce these protections to ensure online sexual abuse is disrupted and prevented on children's devices. Now the deadline is up, Government must crack down and legislate. Only they can compel services to make these vital changes that children so desperately need.”
Anna Sabine MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Burnham needs to grow a backbone and stand up to the Silicon Valley tech bosses profiting off this awful content. Social media platforms cannot be let off the hook – they must be truly held to account to protect children online. The Government should immediately bring forward emergency legislation to force platforms to introduce new safety protocols or face business disruption measures.”
Platform mentions and industry response
The NSPCC also revealed the top five platforms children mentioned in Childline counselling sessions about online sexual abuse. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Snapchat was mentioned 324 times (a 19% increase), TikTok 234 times, Instagram 197 times, Discord 92 times, and WhatsApp 39 times. The charity noted that data comes from word search of session notes and that mentions could be neutral or positive.
Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, says it has developed more than 50 tools to provide teens with safe experiences, including private accounts, protections on direct messages, content controls, time limits, and automatic hiding of offensive comments. A Discord spokesperson said the platform requires users to be at least 13 and has built a suite of protections for teen users, including sensitive content filters and safety alerts.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to making it impossible for anyone under 18 to take, receive, view or send nude images on their mobile phones and tablets as part of our pledge to halve violence against women and girls. We are working closely with both Apple and Google to make this happen. We are clear that if they do not act, we will legislate to protect our children from predators who seek to exploit them online.”
