Issued by: Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

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.

Key findings

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.

Promising approaches to safeguarding

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

• implementing safety-by-design and teen-by-default platform measures

• early intervention and harm-reduction responses that avoid unnecessary criminalisation and are in line with the evidence about what works to reduce offending

• improving digital media and gaming literacy for children, parents and professionals

• healthy relationships and gender-sensitive programmes

• strength-based interventions that promote belonging, critical thinking and positive identity building for children

The YJB urges policymakers, commissioners, and youth justice partners to review the pack in full and embed its evidence into future policy development, commissioning decisions, training programmes, and operational frameworks.

Steph Roberts-Bibby, Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board, said:

"Children’s online experiences, particularly the profound and long-term effects of online harm, are not fully understood. Too often, system responses view these children through a rigid criminal justice lens, which leaves vulnerable children at greater risk of further harm and deeper entrenchment in the justice system. The evidence in this pack highlights both the scale of the issue and the urgent need for a shift in how we respond.

"We welcome the Government’s decision to ban social media for under-16s by spring 2027. The way it is implemented will be critical and while no single measure will solve these complex challenges, any measure that creates a safer childhood is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Preventing harm, supporting recovery, and reducing future offending depend entirely on co-ordinated action across education, health, policing, local government, housing, and social care. We are sharing this pack to drive joined-up policy thinking across government, reduce the number of victims, and ultimately make communities safer."

Read the Evidence and Insights Pack on Online Harms Affecting Children: [https://yjresourcehub.uk/online-harms-affecting-children-evidence-pack]

ENDS

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