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Snapchat was the platform most frequently mentioned in Childline counselling sessions involving online sexual abuse during 2025–26, according to new figures published by the NSPCC.
Between April 2025 and March 2026, Snapchat was mentioned in 324 Childline counselling sessions in which a young person also discussed an experience of online sexual abuse. This represented a 19% increase on the previous year.
TikTok was mentioned in 234 such sessions, followed by Instagram with 197, Discord with 92 and WhatsApp with 39. In total, the five platforms were mentioned in almost 900 counselling sessions where online sexual abuse was a concern.
The NSPCC said online sexual abuse had been the most commonly discussed concern in Childline counselling sessions in which Snapchat or Instagram had been mentioned over the previous three years.
The figures have been published as the Government’s deadline for technology companies to introduce nudity-blocking technology on smartphones and tablets used by children in the UK expired on 8 September.
The Government announced in June that companies including Apple and Google would have three months to introduce technology intended to prevent children from creating, sharing or viewing nude or semi-nude images on their devices.
The NSPCC said such images could be the starting point for grooming, sexual extortion and other forms of online child sexual abuse. It has called on the Government to introduce legislation requiring stronger protections across children’s devices.
The charity argued that device-level safeguards were particularly important because children can be exposed to abuse across multiple online environments, including private messaging services and gaming platforms that may not be covered by forthcoming restrictions on social media use.
The Childline data also illustrates the use of multiple platforms in individual cases. One 14-year-old girl told Childline that she had shared nude images with a man in his twenties on Snapchat, which were subsequently distributed online. A 16-year-old boy described being asked to move a conversation from Discord to WhatsApp before sending images and videos and subsequently being threatened with their release unless he paid money.
The NSPCC said children and their families could face significant and potentially long-term consequences following online sexual abuse.
Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, said hundreds of children had disclosed experiences of online sexual abuse linked to popular apps and platforms during the previous year. He called on the Government to take action following the expiry of the deadline for technology companies to introduce the proposed protections.
The figures provide further evidence for safeguarding and family-law professionals of the risks children may encounter across a range of online services, including social media, messaging and gaming platforms, and the potential importance of considering online activity when assessing children’s welfare and safety.
