The UNICEF report

Children: online sexual abuse totalling 20 million, with almost 60 per cent occurring on social media platforms

Focus on 21 countries: one in five children who use the internet is a victim of at least one form of technology-facilitated exploitation, with devastating effects on their health

by Barbara Gobbi

3 September 2026

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4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

One in five children and young people is a victim, in the space of a single year, of at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse. We are talking about 20 million children – and this figure is a conservative estimate, as many do not ‘report’ such incidents. And almost 60 per cent of cases are believed to have taken place on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp.

The latest UNICEF report is a real blow – it has turned the spotlight on 21 countries around the world, from Montenegro to Pakistan to Mexico. ““Through Children’s Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Sexual Abuse” brings together children’s testimonies with one of the most extensive collections of survey data available to warn of a widespread trend of sexual abuse and exploitation of minors – both online and offline – facilitated by technology.

The painting

The report estimates that over 15 million children have been exposed to unwanted sexual content, that 9 million have been asked to take part in sexually explicit conversations or to share sexual images against their will, and that 4 million children have had sexual images of themselves circulated without their consent. However, the true scale of the problem is likely to be much greater due to under-reporting by children.

As the survey sample comprises only children who use the internet exclusively, UNICEF also points out that the results are representative of children who use the internet rather than of all children, particularly in countries with lower internet connectivity. The research was carried out as part of the ‘Disrupting Harm’ project, a joint initiative by UNICEF, ECPA International and Interpol. The report brings together data from two rounds of research under the ‘Disrupting Harm’ project, conducted in 21 countries. The first phase, with data collected mainly between 2020 and 2021, covered Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam. The second phase, carried out between 2024 and 2025, extended the research to Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Pakistan and Serbia.

‘The report reveals a distressing reality. More than 20 million children in the countries covered by the study have been exposed to unwanted sexually explicit content or forms of online exploitation, often in the digital spaces where they learn, play and interact with friends,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF. “These experiences cause profound emotional and psychological distress. Many children suffer in silence, not knowing who to turn to for help. We cannot look away.”

Spotlight on social media

According to the findings, almost 60 per cent of cases occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp, whilst 14 per cent of cases took place in online games, where the platforms’ features, functions and design were used to exploit users’ trust, as the report highlights. In Montenegro, over 80% of reported cases involved social media platforms, whilst in Colombia these were linked to more than half of the cases.

In the countries covered by the survey, 57 per cent of cases involved someone the child already knew, including peers, romantic partners, friends and family members, calling into question the notion that online abuse is primarily perpetrated by strangers. At the same time, 38 per cent of children met the perpetrator of the online abuse for the first time, with evidence showing – as UNICEF points out – that such abuse is facilitated, for example, by fake accounts and private messaging features.

The effects: from anxiety to suicide

Sexual exploitation and abuse facilitated by technology can have a profound impact on children’s emotional wellbeing, their sense of security and the trust they place in others. The experiences described by children during the interviews conducted as part of the research often centred on fear, shame, confusion and isolation, with many of them struggling to understand what had happened or where to seek help. According to the UNICEF analysis, children who had been victims of technology-facilitated exploitation were four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or behaviour and self-harm, and reported significantly higher levels of anxiety. In Mexico or North Macedonia, for example, the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviour was more than eight times higher among children who had been abused, whilst in Pakistan the risk of self-harm was more than seven times higher.

Left Alone

Over 40 per cent of cases of technology-facilitated abuse were never shared with anyone, whilst less than 1 per cent were reported to the authorities, such as the police, social workers or helplines. Globally, the most common reason why children remained silent was that they did not know who to turn to or who to tell. In some of the countries surveyed, the rates of non-reporting were even higher, including Armenia, where more than half of the cases were never shared with anyone.

“We must all – including governments and technology companies – do more to protect children online,” warns UNICEF Director-General Russell. Speaking on behalf of the UN agency, she urgently calls for “action by governments, technology companies and other stakeholders to better protect children in the digital age”. The report sets out these calls in five points:

• Making digital platforms safer from the design stage, with stronger privacy protections for minors, restrictions on unsolicited contact from adults, safer referral systems and improved mechanisms for identifying and reporting abuse.

• Strengthen laws, regulations and accountability, ensuring that governments have the necessary tools and enforcement measures to tackle ever-evolving forms of abuse, including sexual extortion and child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence.

• Establish reporting and support systems that minors can trust, including investment in child protection, healthcare, the justice system and social services.

• Shift the burden of child protection away from children, ensuring that families, schools and communities respond to reports by offering support and helping children to seek help safely.

• Reduce the economic vulnerabilities exploited by abusers by strengthening support for families and expanding educational and employment opportunities for children and young people.

• Address the social and gender norms that normalise the sexualisation of girls and stigmatise survivors of sexual violence.