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Youth Justice Board for England and Wales gov.uk

New evidence on online harms affecting children

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The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has today published a comprehensive new Evidence and Insights Pack on Online Harms Affecting Children.

The Evidence and Insights Pack brings together the latest research, data, and practice examples from across England and Wales to improve our understanding of the risks children face online and how we safeguard them in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

The release comes at a time of growing national momentum to protect children online, including the implementation of the Online Safety Act, plans to ban social media for under-16s by spring 2027, and an increased focus on online harms in the recent Youth Justice White Paper.

The YJB welcomes the Government’s decision to ban social media for under-16s by spring 2027. Creating safer futures for children will continue to depend on trusted adults, strong relationships, effective partnership working, and co-ordinated support to protect children both online and offline.   

The evidence pack highlights that while online platforms are central to children’s lives, they expose them to severe, overlapping risks:

  • Children face a wide range of digital harms, including cyberbullying, sexual abuse, radicalisation, and exploitation.
  • Exposure to harmful content and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images have become increasingly normalised among children, disproportionately affecting girls.
  • Many children who engage in problematic online behaviours have complex needs or are themselves victims of abuse.
  • Inadequate platform design features and a lack of digital literacy among adults significantly increases risk and hinder effective safeguarding.
  • Online harms have long-lasting impacts on wellbeing and, for some children, are directly linked to involvement in offline violence.

    • While UK-specific data remains limited and requires further evaluation, this report highlights several promising strategies to reduce harm and prevent unnecessary criminalisation:

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    September 20, 2026 19:53
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