Children report record numbers of online sextortion attempts

Report Remove, which is a service allowing children and young people to report intimate images of themselves online has reported a 34% increase in reports of blackmail attempts compared to last year. The number of under-18s seeking help from the service rose by 66%.

The Report Remove service, which is run by the NSPCC and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), allows children and young people to report intimate images that have been, or might be, released online. The service produces a ‘hash’ code that acts like a digital fingerprint, and can be shared with social media platforms to remove the images without directly sharing the images themselves. Of the 1,894 total reports by under-18s to the Report Remove service in 2025, 1,175 were so explicit as to qualify as child sexual abuse material.

During the last year, Report Remove had 394 reports by under-18s after blackmail attempts following images or video being shared with sexual predators. This practice of ‘sextortion’ is where someone is manipulated into sharing explicit images or video of themselves to a predator, who then threatens to release them online unless money is paid, or more intimate images are provided. The vast majority of victims of sextortion are boys aged between 14 and 17.

The figures may in fact be greater than this, since some victims may not be aware of the Report Remove service. As such, the impact could be “difficult to fathom” according to the IWF. Their chief executive, Kerry Smith, said: “Criminals are casting their nets wide and are able to corner young people with the most violent and terrifying threats”. She added: “They employ emotional manipulation and use intimidating, aggressive language and threats that escalate rapidly after nudes are taken.”

The new data has increased calls for nudity detection to be installed as standard on internet devices. Hannah Swirsky, head of policy for the IWF, said: “It is clear to us that if companies won’t do this by themselves, the government must step in to make sure they do”.

Sextortion has been connected with a number of teenagers in the UK who have killed themselves after receiving blackmail threats, including Murray Dowey whose parents are suing Meta for failing to put sufficient safeguards in place. Murray’s mother said that the latest figures were “horrifying and disappointing” adding: “What will it take for social media companies to take responsibility, when they are fully aware that crimes are taking place on their platforms but still not putting in place safety measures?”

Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said that the reality of children being driven to suicide because of sextortion “weighs heavily on me every single day and I will do everything I can to make the online world safer for our children”.