Young Survivors of Online Abuse Call for Effective Solutions, Not Just Age Restrictions
As governments worldwide consider implementing social media bans for those under 16, a crucial voice is emerging from those most affected: young survivors of online abuse themselves. New research conducted with 300 young people from diverse backgrounds reveals they are calling for help, but not through simplistic age restrictions that fail to address the root causes of digital harm.
The Stark Reality of Online Abuse Faced by Vulnerable Youth
Our study, co-produced with young people as fellow researchers across multiple countries, uncovered alarming patterns of online violence. Three-quarters of participants described experiencing or witnessing serious abuse, including cyberbullying, fraud, account hacking, blackmail, stalking, and the circulation of falsified pornographic images. For many, this abuse began in childhood and has had lasting psychological impacts.
In Ghana, where anti-homosexuality legislation is under parliamentary consideration, young sexual minorities described how rising homophobia has led to vigilantes targeting them with violence online. Young HIV activists, who use social media platforms to promote prevention and encourage testing, reported facing torrents of abuse from adults, including religious leaders threatening them for what they deemed immoral behaviour.
Systemic Failures in Reporting and Protection
The research highlights systemic failures in current protection mechanisms. A young transgender participant from Colombia explained the frustration of reporting abuse: "Most of the time, nothing happens. Many times, you don't even report, because you feel it is pointless." Others described how reporting to social media companies typically results in either no action or, at best, temporary account suspensions that are easily circumvented.
Technical solutions are also failing vulnerable communities. Content moderation algorithms frequently miss abuse expressed in diverse languages and cultural contexts, leaving many young people without adequate protection. In Kenya, participants demanded comprehensive law reform, accessible legal aid, and training in digital rights to enable them to bring cases of online harm to court effectively.
The Psychological Toll and Call for Structural Change
The psychological impact of this unchecked abuse is severe. Young people reported experiencing depression, social isolation, and self-harm as direct consequences of online violence. This reality underscores why proposed social media bans for under-16s represent an inadequate response that fails to protect young people once they reach the age threshold and does nothing to address the long-term harms affecting an entire generation.
Young activists are now taking their findings to local governments, parliaments, and United Nations agencies through their report, "Paying the Costs of Connection," demanding substantive action rather than symbolic restrictions.
A Survivor-Centred Approach to Digital Safety
The research concludes that young survivors want a fundamentally different approach: one that centres survivor dignity, autonomy, and voice. This requires comprehensive support systems including psychosocial services, technical assistance, peer networks, and accessible legal aid.
Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union must support trauma-informed approaches that take online abuse seriously. This includes investing in law reform, police sensitisation training, digital rights education, and sustainable funding for frontline community organisations that respond to abuse.
Holding Technology Companies Accountable
Regulation must compel technology companies to invest substantially more in content moderation that works across local languages and understands specific cultural contexts. The issues are simultaneously local and global, requiring both local access to justice and international solidarity through border-crossing alliances that demand a safer digital future for all young people.
Recent funding cuts to development and health budgets in the US and UK have devastated the community-based organisations that serve as frontline responders to abuse. These cuts must be reversed to ensure young people and their communities have the resources needed to advocate for themselves and implement protective measures.
Building Capacity Through Youth Leadership
As the research progressed and collaboration with young activists deepened, inspiring examples of youth-led solutions emerged. One activist described how they had "built the capacity of the police to assist" them, demonstrating that when adults listen and work alongside young people, local community capacity grows and effective protection becomes possible.
This work is already happening around the world. What young people and survivors need now is for responsible adults to listen attentively and support their efforts to create a safer digital environment. The alternative—continuing with approaches that fail to address the actual experiences of those most affected—will only perpetuate the cycle of harm that has already damaged too many young lives.
