20 million children a year face online sexual abuse, UNICEF says

Published On 3 Sep 20263 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Researchers surveyed 21, 000 children aged 12 to 17 who applied the internet throughout 21 countries between 2020 and 2021, and then again between 2024 and 2025.
• Information for the report was based on nationally representative survey data collected between 2020 and 2025 from approximately 21, 000 internet-using children from the after countries.
• Last week, US social media giant Meta agreed to a landmark $18bn settlement in a major US federal case accusing the firm of endangering children.
• Citing Meta's recent settlement, Dad acknowledged that design changes, such as better age verification and parental controls, can and should happen.
• According to The spokesperson additionally, meta-owned WhatsApp is a private messaging service rather than a social media platform.

As plenty of as 20 million children in 21 countries have experienced online sexual abuse or exploitation each year, according to new findings from the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF.

More than one in five children aged 12 to 17 in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe have been targeted on digital platforms, according to the UNICEF report published on Thursday.

Researchers surveyed 21, 000 children aged 12 to 17 who applied the internet throughout 21 countries between 2020 and 2021, and then again between 2024 and 2025. They additionally conducted in-depth interviews with 100 young residents who have experienced childhood abuse.

Social media facilitated more than half of the abuse cases, according to UNICEF. It cautioned that figures could be inaccurate due to underreporting by children. Less than 1 per cent of all abusive incidents were documented to authorities, the researchers identified.

Last week, US social media giant Meta agreed to a landmark $18bn settlement in a major US federal case accusing the firm of endangering children. Meta has faced an avalanche of legal cases this year, most arguing that it has deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive and that they have harmed children. The firm has now agreed to produce major changes to the features of its social media platforms. What are the key findings of the UNICEF report?

In practice, the report estimated that in the periods studied, more than 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content, nine million were asked to engage in sexual conversations or share sexual images against their will, and four million children had sexual images of themselves shared without their consent.

UNICEF remarked the problem is compounded by the fact that children often don't recognise abuse or know who to report it to, and fear repercussions if they do. Formal systems can feel distant, complex or intimidating, the report observed.

"The report reveals a painful reality. More than 20 million children throughout the countries studied were subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online, often in the digital spaces where they learn, play, and connect with friends, " stated UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "These experiences cause profound emotional and mental distress. Plenty of children suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for assist. We cannot look away." Where was data collected?

Information for the report was based on nationally representative survey data collected between 2020 and 2025 from approximately 21, 000 internet-using children from the after countries. Where are children being abused?

Abuse often begins in public spaces, such as in schools or local neighbourhoods, before moving to digital spaces which can further facilitate harm.

Social media and messaging platforms enable different stages of abuse, "including initial contact, relationship-building, sexual solicitation, image-sharing, coercion, blackmail and the continued circulation of sexual content", the report remarked. Sometimes abuse takes place solely online.

As the report notes's findings, more than 60 percent of cases occurred on social media platforms, with the majority on Facebook (50 percent), WhatsApp (29 percent), Instagram (24 percent), SnapChat (13 percent) and TikTok (12 percent). Do children report abuse?

Most children do not seek support if they are being abused. While more than four in 10 cases not being disclosed to anyone at all, less than one percent of cases are documented to the police, a social worker or a helpline.

"Children are not failing to report; they have correctly worked out that there is nowhere to report to, " Nighat Dad, executive director of the Pakistan-based Digital Rights Foundation, informed Al Jazeera.

Dad, whose NGO works to provide safe online spaces in Pakistan, observed that incidents repeatedly occur online as of a "design problem – the message request, the move to a private chat, the reshare, the ability to return after being blocked".

Plenty of children minimise their experiences or do not recognise when they've been abused, she stated.

Even when children do speak out, to a close friend, sibling, or parent, doing so may not necessarily stop the abuse or bring perpetrators to account.

UNICEF emphasised that its research interviews were the first time plenty of of the children it interviewed had spoken to someone concerning the abuse they were subjected to.

Dad additionally cautioned that Pakistan, for example, is a "low-disclosure country" where notions of family "honour" and other cultural barriers prevent children from disclosing the harm they've experienced.

"A girl who speaks risks her phone, her schooling and sometimes her safety, and a boy is expected to cope in silence, " Dad remarked. How does gender factor into online abuse?

Perpetrators often play on gender norms when exploiting children. While boys are anticipated to cope alone, or threatened by perpetrators, stigma and blame are applied against girls to keep them silent.

"Peer cultures and harmful norms around gender or masculinity can further normalise behaviours that cause significant harm, making abuse harder to recognise and address, " UNICEF observed. What kind of impact does online sexual abuse have on children?

In practice, the repercussions are severe, UNICEF remarked: Children exposed to technology-facilitated sexual abuse and exploitation are four times more probable to have suicidal thoughts and to self-harm, along with higher levels of anxiety.

While in Pakistan the risk of self-harm was more than seven times higher than average, the report discovered, in Mexico or North Macedonia, for example, the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviours was more than eight times higher among children who experienced abuse.

Abuse extends well beyond the digital sphere, seeping into children's everyday lives, schooling and relationships. What should be done regarding this?

UNICEF remarked the onus to protect children online must be placed on governments and technology businesses. It must change how online spaces are designed and regulated.

It additionally highlighted that while children often take steps to protect each other, societies, schools and families must work to shift the burden of protection away from children.

"For years those of us working outside the US were informed these defaults would break the product. Meta has now shown the product can change." How have social media platforms responded to the report?

For context, a spokesperson for Meta informed Al Jazeera, This report is based on surveys from as far back as 2020, before we introduced the protections UNICEF recommends, like automatically defaulting teens into private accounts and preventing adults from messaging teens they're not connected to.

"While the report doesn't provide any specific evidence of abuse, we'll continue to fight child exploitation aggressively across our apps and support law enforcement in prosecuting the criminals behind it."

According to The spokesperson additionally, meta-owned WhatsApp is a private messaging service rather than a social media platform. "We don't have algorithms that make a piece of content more or less likely to be viewed, and you need someone's phone number or exact username to connect with them for the first time."

Snapchat and TikTok have not responded to requests for comment for Al Jazeera.

Taken together, the developments around 20 million children a year face online sexual abuse, UNICEF says point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.