The number of children reporting sextortion scams to the NSPCC has more than doubled, with 242 cases recorded in the past year. The charity's Childline service received 242 counselling sessions mentioning financially motivated sexual extortion between April 2025 and March 2026, up from 120 in 2024/25 and 103 in 2023/24. This surge comes as the government's September 8 deadline for Apple and Google to activate device-level nudity blocking technology for children expires today, with neither company having announced the required measures.
NSPCC data reveals scale of sextortion among children
Of the 2,444 Childline counselling sessions about online child sexual abuse and exploitation in the past year, 242 specifically mentioned sextortion. The NSPCC said a large proportion of these cases involved male victims aged 14 to 17 who had been tricked into sending naked images to criminals. Some young people reported paying money to perpetrators hoping to end the ordeal, only to face further demands for higher ransoms or regular instalments. Criminals threatened to expose the images unless victims paid sums ranging from £20 to £3,000.
Many young people were deceived by fake profiles of people they thought they knew, but who were actually criminals. The NSPCC also revealed that of the 2,444 sessions, more than 1,000 mentioned non-financial blackmail and threats to share intimate images, a form more typically involving girls and demanding more images or meetings.
Government deadline passes without Apple and Google action
Former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ordered Big Tech companies to implement device-level protections to stop children taking, receiving or viewing nude images, giving Apple and Google three months until September 8 to comply. He vowed to change the law if they failed to act. The deadline has now passed, but neither Apple nor Google has announced the requested measures. Google's Sensitive Content Warnings blur sensitive imagery in Google Messages for supervised users and signed-in unsupervised teens, but only covers images, not video. Apple introduced age checks for iPhone users that activate safety features by default for those not verified as over 18, but nudity detection is not applied to the camera or broader apps, allowing children to still take, view, share and save nude images.
Campaigners and the government argue these measures are insufficient, calling for nudity blocking across the entire device by default, deactivatable only via age assurance.
NSPCC and MPs demand legislation
Rani Govender, the NSPCC's Head of Child Safety Online, told Metro: "This is a very real concern impacting children in the UK. Sextortion is incredibly distressing for children. When they get in contact with Childline, they feel completely helpless. We know this can have such a devastating toll on children, which is why we are so focused on stopping this happening in the first place."
NSPCC CEO Chris Sherwood said: "Children can't continue to bear the brunt of tech companies' inaction and excuses. Apple and Google needed to urgently introduce these protections to ensure online sexual abuse is disrupted and prevented on children's devices. Now the deadline is up, Government must crack down and legislate. Only they can compel services to make these vital changes that children so desperately need."
Anna Sabine MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "Burnham needs to grow a backbone and stand up to the Silicon Valley tech bosses profiting off this awful content. Social media platforms cannot be let off the hook – they must be truly held to account to protect children online. The Government should immediately bring forward emergency legislation to force platforms to introduce new safety protocols or face business disruption measures."
Platforms mentioned in counselling sessions
The NSPCC also identified the top five platforms children mentioned in counselling sessions about online sexual abuse. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Snapchat was mentioned 324 times, a 19% increase on the previous year. TikTok was mentioned 234 times, Instagram 197 times, Discord 92 times, and WhatsApp 39 times. The charity noted that online sexual abuse has been the most commonly discussed concern in Childline counselling where Snapchat and Instagram were mentioned over the past three years. The data comes from word search of session notes, and mentions could be neutral or positive.
Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said it has developed more than 50 tools to provide teens with safe experiences, including private accounts by default and protections on direct messaging. Instagram Teen Accounts also have content controls, time limits, and automatically hide offensive comments and message requests. A Discord spokesperson said: "Discord is a communications platform built to connect people around playing games. Our safety systems combine advanced technology and human-led investigations, alongside user reports to help identify accounts or spaces engaged in harmful activity. We take a proactive approach to combatting bad actors who seek to abuse our service and continuously invest in improving our efforts. Discord requires all users to be at least 13 to use our platform and we believe nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users." The spokesperson added that Discord has built a suite of protections for teen users that are now the default experience for all UK users, including sensitive content filters, safety alerts on unfamiliar senders, limited visibility of message requests, and enhanced privacy settings, plus Teen Safety Assist and Family Center tools.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are committed to making it impossible for anyone under 18 to take, receive, view or send nude images on their mobile phones and tablets as part of our pledge to halve violence against women and girls. We are working closely with both Apple and Google to make this happen. We are clear that if they do not act, we will legislate to protect our children from predators who seek to exploit them online." Apple, Google, Meta, TikTok and Discord were contacted for comment. The NSPCC and campaigners continue to urge the government to introduce legislation forcing tech companies to implement the required safeguards.
