Online Abuse

Definition

Online abuse is any form of abusive behaviour which happens via the internet (i.e. social media, online gaming, etc.). This includes cyberbullying, sexting, or grooming behaviour linked to other forms of child exploitation (i.e. child sexual exploitation, radicalisation, etc.). Online abuse could be received from people the child knows or complete strangers and can be very hard to escape due to the fact that children can access the internet through lots of different mediums.

Signs and indicators

The following signs and indicators come from the NSPCC website:

Many of the signs that a child is being abused are the same no matter how the abuse happens.

A child may be experiencing abuse online if they:

Spend lots, much more or much less time online, texting, gaming or using social media;
Are withdrawn, upset or outraged after using the internet or texting;
Are secretive about who they’re talking to and what they’re doing online or on their mobile phone;
Have lots of new phone numbers, texts or e-mail addresses on their mobile phone, laptop or tablet.