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Childline delivered more than 2,400 counselling sessions relating to online child sexual abuse and exploitation during the last year, a 36% increase on the previous 12 months, according to new figures published by the NSPCC.
The children's charity said its Childline service provided 2,444 counselling sessions on online sexual abuse and exploitation between April 2025 and March 2026. Overall, the service delivered 4,321 counselling sessions concerning online harms during the same period, representing a 30% year-on-year increase.
The NSPCC has used the figures to renew calls for stronger action to hold technology companies accountable for online safety failures. The charity has launched a new campaign, Shift Ctrl, which highlights the impact of online harms on children and young people's daily lives.
According to the NSPCC, children contacting Childline reported concerns including exposure to harmful content, online scams, cyberbullying and privacy issues on social media platforms. Many also sought support in managing their social media use and screen time.
Among the cases involving online sexual abuse, young people reported fears that intimate images would be shared without their consent and described experiences of financial extortion linked to sexually explicit material. Childline said many children sought advice on how to disclose such experiences to a trusted adult.
Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, said the figures demonstrated the extent to which children continue to face risks online.
He said: “For far too long, tech companies have prioritised profit over the wellbeing of children, playing fast and loose with their safety. Enough is enough.
“Behind each of these Childline counselling sessions is a child in distress, using an online world with features that are designed to put them at risk.”
The charity is urging the government to go beyond proposals for social media restrictions and instead require platforms to provide genuinely age-appropriate services, tackle addictive design features and strengthen measures to prevent illegal and harmful content, including child sexual abuse material, from being created and shared online.
The NSPCC's intervention comes as the government consults on children's access to social media and wider online safety measures. The charity said the consultation presents an opportunity to introduce stronger protections for children and place greater legal obligations on technology companies to prevent harm.
One young person who contacted Childline told counsellors that an individual they met online had obtained photographs of them and threatened to publish the images on adult websites unless further images were provided, highlighting the coercive and exploitative behaviour increasingly reported by children seeking support.
