Record sextortion reports from UK under-18s to Report Remove in first half of 2026

Mixed · 2The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) says 462 sextortion reports to the Report Remove service were confirmed in the first six months of 2026, a record. 1 2 Mixed · 2That is above the 394 reports for the whole of 2025, and the Mirror describes it as a 17% increase on last year's total. 2 1 Left · 1Report Remove, set up in 2021, received 19 sextortion reports in 2022, 164 in 2023, 151 in 2024 and 394 in 2025. 1

Mixed · 2Ninety-five per cent of this year's reports involved boys exclusively or overwhelmingly. 1 2 Right · 1The Mail adds an age breakdown: 227 reports involved 14- and 15-year-olds, 217 involved 16- and 17-year-olds, 17 involved children aged 11 to 13, and one involved a child aged between seven and ten. 2 Mixed · 2In sextortion, criminals coerce or trick young people into sending private images, then threaten to publish them unless money or other demands are met; the IWF says much of the imagery is taken by the young person on a phone or other camera-enabled device. 1 2

Mixed · 2The threats can be extreme; the Mirror says young people have been driven to take their own lives, while the Mail says some have self-harmed. 1 2 Mixed · 2IWF chief executive Kerry Smith said the figures show "a consistently worsening picture" and urged the new Government not to "take its foot off the pedal with online safety". 1 2 Mixed · 2Smith welcomed the commitment to nudity-blocking technology on children's devices but said "there really is no time to lose". 1 2

Mixed · 2In September, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs the Government would legislate to require major tech platforms, including Google and Apple, to build in device-level protections against children sending or receiving nude imagery; the Mail frames this as legislating if tech companies do not act themselves. 1 2 Mixed · 2Rani Govender, NSPCC head of child safety online, said more children will fall victim if platforms fail to act with urgency, adding: "There is no excuse for inaction." 1 2 Left · 1A government spokesperson called the grooming of children for blackmail "beyond appalling", said ministers want Britain to be the first country where children cannot take, share or view nude images on their devices, and warned tech companies the government would step in if they fall short. 1

Mixed · 2Report Remove is a free, confidential service for under-18s to report nude or sexual images of themselves that have been or might be shared online, so they can be blocked and removed; the Mirror says it is run by the IWF and Childline, the Mail by the IWF and the NSPCC. 1 2