{"id":1001,"date":"2023-08-14T23:29:55","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/grooming-cases-at-record-high-amid-online-safety-laws-delay\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T23:29:55","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:29:55","slug":"grooming-cases-at-record-high-amid-online-safety-laws-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/grooming-cases-at-record-high-amid-online-safety-laws-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Grooming cases at record high amid online safety laws delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grooming cases at record high amid online safety laws delay<\/p>\n

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\"Child<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By Shiona McCallum<\/div>\n
Technology reporter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tens of thousands of online grooming crimes have been recorded during the wait for updated online safety laws.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Campaigners are urging tech companies and MPs to back the Online Safety Bill and are calling for no more hold-ups. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The bill, which aims to crack down on illegal content, has faced repeated delays and amendments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Children’s charity the NPSCC says 34,000 online grooming crimes had been recorded by UK police forces since it first called for tougher laws in 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The proposed new rules state that tech companies should be able to access the content of private messages if there is a child safety concern.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Many popular apps offer an encrypted messaging service, which means that only the sender and recipient can view the content. The tech firms themselves cannot see it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, these privacy functions are available to everybody, and the platforms say they offer extra protection to victims of domestic abuse, journalists and political activists, among others. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They also say that if they build in a backdoor, it will make their services less secure for all. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Aoife<\/picture><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span>Aoife<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Aoife, 22, from East Kilbride, was exploited on two popular messaging apps when she was 15 by an adult male who pretended to be a teenager.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The man convinced her to send him images of herself and blackmailed her with these to control her behaviour. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When his demands became increasingly intense and frightening, Aoife plucked up the courage to tell her mum and teachers, who helped them to report it to the police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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‘Petrified’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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“I was petrified,” Aoife told BBC News. “It was something silly like two o’clock in the morning that I remember sitting in my room and all I wanted was my mum, but you can’t go in then tell your mum that you’ve just done this, and you’re in a lot of trouble. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s scary. I felt like I was the only person in the world at the time.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she felt “guilty” that no-one else knew what she was going through but also annoyed with herself because she was a “smart girl”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After an investigation by the National Crime Agency in 2022, Aoife’s abuser was jailed for 18 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He pleaded guilty to 65 offences relating to 26 girls and women aged between 12 and 22.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Citing data from 42 UK police forces, the NSPCC said that 6,350 offences related to sexual communication with a child were recorded last year – a record high.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The new research shows that 5,500 offences took place against primary school-age children, meaning under-12s made up a quarter of known victims. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The charity has previously stated that messaging apps are the “front line” of the offence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Encryption roadblock <\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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However, ministers have recently had to defend the Online Safety Bill against a backlash from some tech companies, who argue the law will undermine the use of encryption to keep online communications private.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some platforms are threatening to leave the UK altogether rather than comply with the new rules.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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