Calls For Stronger Protection for Under 16s Online

Why the NCA & NPCC Are Calling for Stronger Safeguards for Under-16s

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have jointly called for stronger restrictions on certain online platform features for children under the age of 16.

Their intervention follows growing concern about the increasing role technology plays in child exploitation, grooming, online abuse and wider criminal activity targeting young people.

Their message is clear: while technology has transformed the way children communicate, learn and socialise, it has also created opportunities for offenders to access and exploit vulnerable young people on an unprecedented scale.

For criminal investigators, safeguarding professionals and legal practitioners, the figures are increasingly difficult to ignore. The NCA estimates there may be as many as 840,000 adults in the UK who pose some form of sexual risk to children.

Referrals relating to online child sexual abuse continue to rise sharply, with almost 100,000 reports made to the NCA in 2025 alone.

The Changing Nature of Child Exploitation

Historically, concerns about child exploitation often focused on physical locations and face-to-face contact. Today, many offenders never need to leave their homes to identify, contact and manipulate potential victims.

Law enforcement agencies increasingly encounter cases involving online grooming, sexual extortion, coercion, blackmail and the sharing of indecent images.

Criminals are able to exploit social media platforms, gaming environments, messaging applications and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to establish contact with children.

Many investigations now begin with a seemingly innocent online conversation before escalating into requests for personal information, images, videos or face-to-face meetings.

The NCA’s latest assessment suggests that online-facilitated child sexual abuse now accounts for a significant proportion of all recorded child sexual abuse offences in England and Wales.

What Features Are Causing Concern?

Importantly, the NCA and NPCC are not calling for the outright banning of social media or online platforms for young people. Instead, their focus is on features they believe create the greatest opportunities for criminal exploitation.

Areas highlighted by law enforcement include:

• Children being easily discoverable by strangers.
• Unrestricted messaging from unknown adults.
• Private or encrypted communications that can conceal grooming behaviour.
• Algorithms that promote harmful content or dangerous contacts.
• Weak age verification systems.
• The sharing or live streaming of sexual images involving children.

The concern is that many of these functions were designed to increase engagement and connectivity but can also be exploited by offenders seeking vulnerable victims.

The Criminal Law Perspective

From a criminal law perspective, online offending against children presents significant challenges.

Investigations frequently involve multiple jurisdictions, encrypted communications, anonymous accounts and vast quantities of digital evidence. Identifying offenders can require specialist forensic analysis and extensive cooperation between police forces, technology providers and international agencies.

Prosecutions often involve offences such as:

• Sexual communication with a child.
• Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
• Making, possessing or distributing indecent images of children.
• Blackmail and coercive behaviour.
• Child sexual exploitation and grooming offences.

Many offenders deliberately exploit the perceived anonymity of the internet, believing their actions cannot be traced. In reality, digital evidence often forms a central part of criminal investigations and prosecutions.

At the same time, criminal defence solicitors regularly encounter cases where careful examination of digital evidence is essential. Questions can arise regarding account ownership, device access, attribution of communications and the interpretation of online activity.

As with any criminal allegation, the burden remains on the prosecution to prove offences beyond reasonable doubt.

Safeguarding Rather Than Criminalising Children

One of the most important aspects of the NCA and NPCC proposals is the emphasis on protecting children rather than punishing them.

Many young people who become involved in online exploitation are victims rather than offenders. Children may be manipulated into sharing images, participating in online activity they do not fully understand or becoming involved in criminal conduct through coercion and grooming.

Modern safeguarding approaches increasingly recognise that children subjected to exploitation should receive support and protection rather than being blamed for the circumstances in which they find themselves.

This reflects a broader shift within the criminal justice system towards recognising child exploitation as a form of abuse.

The Role of Technology Companies

A significant part of the debate centres on the responsibilities of technology companies.

Law enforcement leaders have argued that online platforms have been too slow to implement effective safeguards and that stronger regulation may now be necessary.

The concern is not simply about removing harmful content after it appears, but designing systems that reduce opportunities for abuse in the first place.

This concept, often referred to as “safety by design”, focuses on building protection into platforms from the outset rather than relying solely on reporting mechanisms after harm has occurred.

The NCA and NPCC have called for robust age verification systems, stronger protections against unwanted adult contact and measures that make it significantly harder for offenders to identify and communicate with children.

Balancing Safety and Digital Freedom

Any proposal involving restrictions on online activity inevitably raises wider questions about privacy, freedom of expression and digital access.

Supporters argue that society already accepts safeguards designed to protect children in many aspects of everyday life and that similar principles should apply online.

Critics may question how restrictions would be enforced, whether age verification systems are sufficiently reliable and how platforms can balance user privacy with child protection obligations.

These are important discussions, but few would dispute the need to address the growing scale of online harm facing children.

Looking Ahead

The NCA and NPCC’s intervention reflects a growing consensus among law enforcement agencies that the online environment presents significant safeguarding challenges for young people.

While criminal investigations continue to identify and prosecute offenders, prevention remains the most effective form of protection.

Stronger safeguards, effective regulation, robust age verification and improved online safety education are all likely to remain key areas of focus in the years ahead.

For parents, schools, technology providers and policymakers, the challenge is finding the right balance between allowing young people to benefit from technology while ensuring they are protected from those who seek to exploit it.

As online offending continues to evolve, the legal system, law enforcement agencies and technology companies will need to evolve with it.

How We Can Help.

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