20 million Children suffered sexual abuse online in a single year, UNICEF Says
A major UNICEF study across 21 countries has revealed the scale of sexual exploitation facing children online, with social media accounting for nearly 60% of reported cases. Artificial intelligence is adding a troubling new dimension.
GENEVA — Around 20 million children were subjected to sexual exploitation or abuse online in a single year across 21 countries, according to a major UNICEF study that offers a stark picture of the risks facing young people in an increasingly digital world.
More than one in five internet-using children aged 12 to 17 surveyed across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe reported experiencing at least one form of online sexual abuse or exploitation during the previous year.
The research, based on nationally representative surveys of approximately 21,000 children conducted between 2020 and 2025, found that around 15 million had been exposed to unwanted sexual content. Nine million were pressured into sexual conversations or asked to share sexual images, while four million said intimate images of them had been distributed without their consent.
The true global figure is likely to reach many tens of millions, UNICEF warned.
Social media occupies a central place in the findings. Almost 60% of reported incidents occurred on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and TikTok, while online gaming accounted for 14%.
Technology companies say protections for younger users have been strengthened in recent years. Meta, for example, points to private-by-default teen accounts and restrictions on unsolicited contact from adults. Snapchat and TikTok have similarly highlighted detection systems, reporting tools and safeguards designed for minors.
Yet the danger does not always come from strangers. More than half of reported cases involved somebody already known to the child — including friends, relatives or romantic partners. Only 38% said they had first encountered the perpetrator online.
Perhaps most strikingly, fewer than 1% of cases were reported to police, social workers or helplines.
Artificial intelligence is creating an additional challenge. Across nine countries, an estimated 1.1 million children reported that AI-generated sexual images or videos depicting them had been created.
UNICEF is calling on governments and technology companies to strengthen platform safeguards, modernise laws covering AI-generated abuse and make reporting systems more accessible.
The figures point to an uncomfortable reality: as childhood moves increasingly online, protecting children in the digital world can no longer be treated as separate from protecting them in the real one.
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