Online Safety and Digital Harm: Definition, Indicators and Professional Response
The online world is an important part of children’s lives. Children and young people use technology to learn, communicate, socialise, access entertainment and express themselves. Whilst the online environment offers many opportunities, it can also expose children to significant risks and harm.
Online harm can occur through websites, social media platforms, gaming environments, messaging applications, livestreaming services, virtual reality environments and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).
Online abuse is rarely confined to the online world. In many cases, online harm overlaps with sexual abuse, criminal exploitation, domestic abuse, bullying, harmful sexual behaviour, radicalisation and other safeguarding concerns.
Professionals should consider online activity as part of every safeguarding assessment and recognise that children’s online experiences are an integral part of their daily lives.
This guidance should be read alongside:
What is Online Harm?
Online harm refers to abuse, exploitation, intimidation, manipulation or other harmful experiences that occur through digital technologies or online environments.
Children may experience:
- Online grooming
- Child sexual abuse
- Child sexual exploitation
- Child criminal exploitation
- Sexual extortion (sextortion)
- Harmful sexual behaviour
- Online bullying
- Harassment
- Radicalisation
- Fraud and financial exploitation
- Exposure to harmful content
- Misuse of personal information
- Online coercion and control
- Image-based abuse
- Technology-facilitated domestic abuse
Online harm may be perpetrated by:
- Adults
- Children and young people
- Organised groups
- Criminal networks
- Individuals known to the child
- Strangers
Why Online Harm Matters
Online harm can have serious and lasting consequences.
Emotional Impact
Children may experience:
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Shame
- Humiliation
- Isolation
- Depression
- Self-harm
- Suicidal thoughts
Social Impact
Children may experience:
- Bullying
- Relationship difficulties
- Social exclusion
- Reputational harm
- Educational disruption
Physical and Safeguarding Risks
Online harm can lead to:
- Sexual abuse
- Exploitation
- Missing episodes
- Criminal exploitation
- Serious violence
- Blackmail
- Coercion
Professionals should recognise that online risks can quickly become offline risks.
Understanding Online Harm
Children’s Online and Offline Lives Are Connected
Children often move seamlessly between online and offline environments.
Online relationships, friendships and experiences can directly influence:
- Behaviour
- Mental health
- Relationships
- Exploitation risks
- Community safety
- Educational engagement
Professionals should avoid treating online concerns as separate from other safeguarding issues.
Online Grooming
Online grooming occurs when an individual develops a relationship with a child in order to manipulate, exploit or abuse them.
Perpetrators may:
- Build trust over time.
- Offer friendship or support.
- Give gifts or rewards.
- Pretend to be another child.
- Encourage secrecy.
- Isolate the child from trusted adults.
Grooming may occur over a short or prolonged period.
Sexual Extortion (Sextortion)
Sexual extortion is a form of online abuse where a child is coerced into sharing sexual images or videos and is then threatened, blackmailed or manipulated.
Perpetrators may:
- Demand money.
- Demand additional images.
- Threaten to share content.
- Target multiple children simultaneously.
Professionals should treat sextortion as child sexual abuse.
Sharing Nude and Semi-Nude Images
Children and young people may create, possess or share sexual images of themselves or others.
Incidents can arise through:
- Peer pressure.
- Relationships.
- Coercion.
- Exploitation.
- Harassment.
- Blackmail.
Professionals should follow local and national guidance when responding to incidents and avoid unnecessarily criminalising children.
Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology
Emerging technologies create new safeguarding challenges.
Potential concerns include:
- AI-generated sexual images.
- Deepfake content.
- Online impersonation.
- Manipulated images.
- Technology-assisted bullying or harassment.
Professionals should remain informed about evolving digital risks and their potential safeguarding implications.
How Might Online Harm Present?
Online harm may present through:
- Behavioural changes.
- Mental health concerns.
- School concerns.
- Relationship difficulties.
- Exploitation indicators.
- Peer conflicts.
- Changes in technology use.
Children may not disclose concerns due to fear, embarrassment, shame or concern about losing access to devices.
Signs and Indicators
Behavioural Indicators
A child may:
- Become withdrawn.
- Appear anxious or distressed.
- Display mood changes.
- Become secretive.
- Seem fearful about notifications or messages.
- Self-harm.
- Experience sleep difficulties.
Technology Indicators
Professionals may notice:
- Multiple accounts or profiles.
- Excessive use of devices.
- Secretive online activity.
- Reluctance to discuss online interactions.
- Sudden deletion of accounts or messages.
- New devices without explanation.
Relationship Indicators
A child may:
- Spend excessive time communicating with unknown individuals.
- Become emotionally dependent on online relationships.
- Experience peer conflict linked to online activity.
- Receive gifts or money from unknown sources.
Indicators of Exploitation
Professionals should consider:
- Requests for sexual images.
- Online blackmail.
- Gifts or money.
- Contact with significantly older individuals.
- Multiple mobile phones.
- Missing episodes.
- Unexplained travel arrangements.
Educational Indicators
Professionals may observe:
- Reduced concentration.
- Poor attendance.
- Increased anxiety in school.
- Social difficulties.
- Behaviour changes.
- Avoidance of peers.
Questions for Professional Curiosity
Professionals should consider:
- What online platforms does the child use?
- Who are they communicating with?
- Are relationships age-appropriate?
- What has changed recently?
- Have concerns emerged suddenly?
- Is there any indication of grooming or exploitation?
- Are there concerns about image sharing?
- Does the child appear fearful about online interactions?
- Have other agencies identified concerns?
- What does the child say about their online experiences?
Practice Considerations
Do Not Minimise Online Harm
Online abuse can be as harmful as abuse occurring face-to-face.
Professionals should treat online concerns with the same seriousness as other safeguarding risks.
Focus on the Child’s Experience
The key question is not:
“What app is being used?”
but:
“What impact is this having on the child?”
Understanding the child’s lived experience remains central.
Digital Platforms Change Rapidly
Popular apps and technologies frequently evolve.
Professionals should focus on:
- Risks
- Relationships
- Behaviours
- Impact
rather than relying solely on knowledge of specific platforms.
Online Harm Often Overlaps With Other Safeguarding Concerns
Professionals should consider links to:
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Sexual Exploitation
- Child Criminal Exploitation
- Harmful Sexual Behaviour
- Domestic Abuse
- Radicalisation
- Missing Children
Rarely does online harm exist entirely in isolation.
What Should Professionals Do?
Immediate Risk
If a child:
- Is being sexually exploited.
- Is being blackmailed.
- Is at immediate risk of harm.
- Is being threatened.
- Has arranged to meet someone who presents a risk.
Take Immediate Action
- Call 999
- Contact Police
- Contact Children’s Social Care
Concerns About Online Harm
Contact Children’s Social Care (MASH)
Telephone: 0191 424 5010
Monday to Thursday: 8.30am to 5.00pm
Friday: 8.30am to 4.30pm
Out of Hours
Telephone: 0191 456 2093
Referral Routes
Recording Online Harm Concerns
Professionals should record:
- What was reported or observed.
- Relevant websites or platforms.
- Child disclosures.
- Names or usernames where known.
- Screenshots in accordance with organisational procedures.
- Dates and times.
- Actions taken.
- Professional analysis.
Recording should be factual, accurate and contemporaneous.
Information Sharing
Effective safeguarding requires timely information sharing.
Professionals should share relevant concerns regarding:
- Grooming.
- Exploitation.
- Online identities.
- Harmful communications.
- Image sharing.
- Risks to other children.
Professionals should follow local information sharing procedures and organisational policies regarding digital evidence.
Further guidance:
Local Guidance and Resources
South Tyneside
- Report a Concern
- Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)
- South Tyneside Threshold Guidance
- South Tyneside Online Safety Hub
Regional
Relevant chapters include:
- Online Safety
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Sexual Exploitation
- Child Criminal Exploitation
- Harmful Sexual Behaviour
- Missing Children
- Information Sharing
National Resources
- https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/
- https://www.internetmatters.org/
- https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
- https://saferinternet.org.uk/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education–2
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026
Key Practice Message
For children and young people, the online world is part of their everyday world. Online harm should never be viewed as less serious than offline harm. Practitioners should be professionally curious about children’s digital lives, understand how online and offline risks interact, and respond promptly when concerns arise. The focus should always remain on the child’s safety, wellbeing and lived experience, not simply the technology involved.