The internet is not a safe place for unsupervised children and young people — 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 creation on platforms like TikTok 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 agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion (€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: sexual assault, a threat experienced by one in five people between the ages of 12 and 17 over the past year. 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 more than 15 million children had been exposed to unwanted sexual content. An estimated 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.
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