'Self-generated' child sexual abuse material (SC_CSAM) is an online problem that has increased dramatically due to the easy availability of smartphone technology and the fact that online access has become more personal, private and less supervised. The Internet Watch Foundation is reporting that this phenomenon has been compounded by long periods of lockdown at home because of Covid-19.  

SG-CSAM encompasses intimate or sexually explicit content created by and featuring children below the age of eighteen. These images can be taken and shared intentionally by children and young people but in many cases they are the result of online grooming, coercion or blackmail (sextortion).

Social media is an intrinsic and pervasive aspect of children and young people’s daily lives. Understanding the issues and challenges they face - as well as how they perceive, make sense of, and navigate them - is a crucial part of developing an effective campaign that is underpinned by a safeguarding focus.