Introduction
Technology is now a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues. Children and young people are at risk of abuse and other harms online as well as face to face — and in many cases, these risks occur concurrently both online and offline.
Online safety is an umbrella term for promoting the safeguarding of children and young people when using any internet-connected device. While the online world can add great value to children’s lives — supporting learning, creativity, and friendships — it also presents significant risks that professionals must understand and respond to effectively.
For learners on mitskills.com, understanding online safety and cybercrime is essential to recognising risk, supporting children, and acting appropriately when concerns arise.
What Is Online Abuse and Cybercrime?
Online abuse / cybercrime is any abuse or criminal activity that is facilitated by internet technology. It can take place through social media, messaging apps, emails, online gaming, live-streaming platforms, or other digital communication channels.
Online abuse may:
- Happen only online, or
- Be part of other abuse or criminal activity occurring offline, with children being re-victimised when abuse is recorded, livestreamed, or shared online.
Cybercrime is criminal activity committed using computers and/or the internet. It is categorised as:
- Cyber-enabled crime – crimes that can happen offline but are enabled at scale online.
- Cyber-dependent crime – crimes that can only be committed using a computer, such as hacking, malware distribution, or denial-of-service attacks.
The Scale of Online Risk
Data from Ofcom shows that 97% of households with children aged 0–18 have internet access, with mobile phones, tablets, and games consoles commonly used by children and young people.
Research highlights that:
- Around 29% of children aged 8–17 have experienced someone being nasty or hurtful to them online.
- 35% of 12–15-year-olds report being treated unkindly online.
- Two-fifths of children believe people are mean or unkind to each other on social media most or all of the time.
These figures reinforce that online harm is common, normalised, and often hidden.
The Four Areas of Online Risk (The “4 Cs”)
Online risks can be grouped into four key categories:
Content
Exposure to illegal, inappropriate, or harmful material such as pornography, extremist content, self-harm material, misogyny, or hate speech.
Contact
Harmful online interactions with others, including grooming, peer pressure, bullying, or adults posing as children.
Conduct
Personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of harm, including creating or sharing nude or semi-nude images, cyberbullying, or misuse of AI technology.
Commerce
Financial risks, both as victims and perpetrators, including scams, in-game spending, online gambling, or being used as a “money mule”.
Types of Online Abuse and Cybercrime
Children and young people may experience or become involved in a wide range of online abuse or criminal activity, including:
- Grooming (including for sexual abuse, exploitation, and radicalisation)
- Cyberbullying
- Consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude or semi-nude images (including AI-generated images and CSAM)
- Sexual abuse (including non-contact abuse)
- Financial abuse and online scams
- Exposure to inappropriate materials
- Copyright infringement
- Hacking or other illegal online behaviour
The Online Safety Act (2023) makes it a criminal offence to share intimate images without consent and places responsibility on technology companies to prevent and remove illegal content.
Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Risks
Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have introduced new safeguarding risks. In 2023, the Internet Watch Foundation identified thousands of AI-generated child sexual abuse images, many of which were indistinguishable from real images.
Schools and colleges have also reported concerns that children are using AI tools to generate sexual imagery of other children, raising serious safeguarding and criminal concerns. Settings must ensure that EdTech, filtering, and monitoring systems are robust and regularly reviewed.
Who Is Most Vulnerable Online?
All children can be affected by online abuse, but some are more vulnerable, including:
- Younger children
- Children experiencing bullying, isolation, or family difficulties
- Children in care or care-experienced
- Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities
These children may have fewer protective factors and may find it harder to recognise or report abuse.
Signs and Indicators of Online Harm
Indicators of online abuse or cybercrime often mirror those seen in offline abuse. Warning signs include:
- Changes in online behaviour
- Changes in behaviour offline, especially after being online
- Being withdrawn, upset, or angry after internet use
- Excessive secrecy about devices or online contacts
- Lots of new contact numbers or email addresses
- Unexplained money, gifts, or in-game purchases
- Sexualised or violent behaviour
- Signs of other forms of abuse or criminal activity
No single sign confirms abuse, but patterns should always be explored.
Scenario Example: Emilia
Emilia is under 18 and enjoys coding, digital art, and AI. After falling out with friends, she becomes increasingly subdued and dishevelled. A physical attack on Emilia is filmed by peers, and allegations emerge that she created AI-generated sexual images of other students, which are being circulated online.
This scenario highlights multiple safeguarding concerns, including:
- Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
- Cyberbullying and filmed violence
- Misuse of AI technology
- Physical assault
- Potential victimisation of multiple children
What Should Settings Do?
When concerns about online abuse or cybercrime arise, the response should include:
- Immediate reporting to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
- Recording the concern as a safeguarding issue
- Not viewing or sharing any sexual images
- Assessing immediate medical or emotional needs
- Referral to Children’s Social Care and the police where appropriate
- Supporting victims to remove images using approved tools
- Risk and needs assessments for all children involved
- Reviewing staff training, policies, filtering, and monitoring systems
Safeguarding is about building the picture — recognising that small concerns, when joined together, can reveal significant harm.
What Children Need to Know
To stay safe online, children and young people need to understand:
- How to evaluate what they see online
- How persuasion and manipulation work
- What acceptable and legal online behaviour is
- How to identify online risks
- How and when to seek help or report concerns
Education, not restriction alone, is key.
Filtering and Monitoring: Professional Responsibilities
Filtering and monitoring are essential safeguarding tools.
- Filtering controls access to content and is largely reactive.
- Monitoring supervises activity and helps identify concerns early, providing opportunities to learn from mistakes in a safe environment.
All staff must understand their responsibilities, know how to report concerns, and be confident in escalating issues appropriately.
Conclusion
Online safety and cybercrime are not separate from safeguarding — they are central to it. Children and young people can be harmed, exploited, or criminalised through online activity, often without adults noticing.
By understanding risks, recognising signs, and acting early, professionals can help protect children from harm and support them to navigate the online world safely and responsibly.
Online safety is safeguarding — and safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.