Overview
- UNICEF published the Through Children's Eyes report on Thursday, Sept. 3, estimating about 20 million internet-using children aged 12–17 across 21 countries experienced at least one form of technology‑facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse in a single year.
- The study breaks the toll into distinct harms: roughly 15 million exposed to unwanted sexual content, 9 million pressured into sexual conversations or image‑sharing, and 4 million who had sexual images shared without their consent.
- Nearly 60% of reported incidents happened on mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, with another 14% occurring in online gaming where private chats, fake accounts and recommender systems can be exploited.
- More than 40% of affected children never told anyone and fewer than 1% reported incidents to police, social workers or helplines, and UNICEF links these experiences to much higher rates of suicidal thoughts, self‑harm and anxiety among victims.
- UNICEF and partners call for urgent steps including privacy‑by‑default, limits on unsolicited adult contact, proactive detection of abusive and AI‑generated material, stronger reporting and support pathways, and legal updates to criminalize newer forms of abuse.