The internet is not a safe place for unsupervised children and young people ā€” by now, that’s common knowledge.
Social media platforms are adept at tweaking their algorithms to ensure users of any age remain on their sites. To do that, they often disseminate content that can be dangerous and upsetting for young people.
Studies regularly find a connection between what’s known as doomscrolling and a higher risk of psychological problems in the young, including suicidal thoughts. And some of the latest trends in video creationĀ on platforms likeĀ TikTokĀ directly endanger the safety of users.
In the United States, Meta, which owns both Instagram and Facebook, recently opted to settle a case against it out of court. A number of US states had claimed that the two platforms harmed children.
Meta agreedĀ to pay up to $17.1 billion (ā‚¬14.7 billion) to the states involved and to limit teenagers’ access to its platforms to just two hours a day. During the night, access will be completely blocked.
A new survey by UNICEF, the UN agency for children, puts the spotlight on another danger that young people constantly face in the digital world:Ā sexual assault, a threat experienced byĀ one in five people between the ages of 12 and 17 overĀ the past year.
What are the key findings?
The UNICEF report, which DW saw in advance of publication, explains how such attacks often happen.
“It often begins without warning,” the authors of the study wrote. “Conversation becomes coercion, and coercion becomes entrapment.”
The survey found that moreĀ than 15 million children had been exposed to unwanted sexual content. An estimatedĀ 9 million were pressured into sexual conversations or asked to share sexual images, while some 4 million had sexual images shared without their consent. The report’s authors, however, warn that the true scale is likely far higher.
“The report reveals a painful reality,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “These experiences cause profound emotional and mental distress. Many children suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for help.”
Often, the perpetrator of the assault puts pressure on a victim. The victims then feel ashamed and this makes it difficult to tell anybody about what has happened. Of those surveyed, 41% had never told anybody about their assault. Others said they had first confided in friends, siblings or their mothers. Fewer than 1%Ā were reported to authorities.
The stereotype many have of a complete stranger harassing young people online actually only applies in 16% of cases. Most perpetrators ā€” 57% ā€” are already known to their victims. They may be friends, family members or even romantic partners.
In addition, 27% of respondents were not able to identify the people behind the profiles. When perpetrators are known, they include adults but also minors. In many cases, attacks take place in real life as well as online.
The major social media platforms are also the main gateways for this kind of behavior. The UNICEF report says 60% of assaults come primarily from Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram (all of which are owned by Meta), followed by Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. And 14% of respondents cited online gaming platforms as the location of an assault ā€” gaming platforms usually have direct messaging channels.
How was the data collected?
The report polled around 21,000 young people in 21 countries, aged between 12 and 17, who regularly use the internet.Ā Data from 12 countries ā€” Ethiopia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam ā€” had already been collected in 2020 and 2021 and analyzed in an earlier report.
For this new report, additional data was collected in Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Pakistan and Serbia. The surveys were also supplemented by longer interviews with 100 young people who had experienced abuse.
Europe, US surveys find similar results
Researchers familiar with this issue would not be surprised by the scale of the problem.
The 2020 EU Kids Online Survey, based on a poll conducted in 19 European countries, indicated that 22% of all participants had received sexually explicit messages online.
In a Spanish study conducted in seven secondary schools in 2021 and 2022, 21% of female respondents said they were sexually harassed online “occasionally,” while 5% said this happened “frequently.” For male respondents in the Spanish study, the percentages were a few points lower.
A similar survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2022 found that 17% of 13- to 17-year-olds in the US said they had been sent explicit images without their consent. The survey did not differentiate between sexually explicit content and other material that showed things like violence.
Social media bans in Australia, UK, France
The UNICEF report calls on governments, tech companies and other stakeholders to better protect children and young people in the digital world.
Among the requests:
- Design more secure digital platforms, with stronger protection for the privacy of minors.
- StrengthenĀ national regulations and criminal law, and closeĀ loopholes.
- Establish trustworthy reporting and support systems for young people.
Coming just after Meta’s out-of-court settlement in the US, the new UNICEF report will likely add fuel to the fire for those seeking toĀ ban social media for young people, an ongoingĀ debateĀ in many countries.
In December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to introduce an age limit for social media in order to protect minors. There, anyone under 16 is prohibited from having an account onĀ platforms like YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, a rule the platforms themselves are required to monitor.
A similar age limit will come into effect in the UK in 2027, while France is the first EU country to have passed a law adopting an age limit ā€” 15 years old ā€” for social media users. However, it has since been blocked by France’s top court, the Constitutional Council, which ruled it might infringe on freedom of expression and privacy.Ā
In June, a German commission proposed a tiered model. This would come with age limits, requirements for proof of ageĀ and strict rules requiring the cooperation of social media platforms.
This article was originally written in German.