https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/18/11/16/social-1834010_1280.png Instagram has been recently suggested to be a gateway to child abuse and child grooming *by a leading children's charity in the UK* known as the NSPCC, the *National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children*. ## Their allegations come after they had looked at information spanning just an 18 month period that showed there were more than 5k recorded crimes [of sexual communication with a child](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/03/01/surge-of-200-in-use-of-instagram-to-target-and-abuse-children/#504d6e5d59c4). [Those recorded crimes came along](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47410520) with at least a 200 percent increase in instances where Instagram was being used to target and abuse children with a primary age [group being targeted that was between 12 and 15 years of age](https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-child-grooming-cases-rise-239-in-the-uk-says-nspcc-2019-3). Still, there were many younger victims as well and the charity expects that the true number of victims is much higher than that which has been reported by the police officially. Unfortunately, the charity thinks that more government is the answer here though, and they're pushing for new regulations on social media to try and address the risk here. ## The data that was analyzed showed that Instagram was *used in 32 percent* of at least 1,317 cases, followed by *Facebook in 23 percent*, and *Snapchat in 14 percent*. [The data comes from more than 30 different police forces](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47410520) across England and Wales alone. https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/06/22/22/13/instagram-1474232_1280.jpg ## Those with the charity organization have said that this data signals that parents cannot trust the social media platforms to [make sure that their children are safe while browsing online](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/01/uk/nspcc-grooming-social-media-report-scli-gbr-intl/index.html). Previously, it was also suggested that [Instagram might be the most damaging to young people's mental health today](https://steemit.com/socialmedia/@doitvoluntarily/social-media-users-rate-instagram-as-most-damaging-to-young-people-s-mental-health). Instagram being the most popular tool for child grooming, if that be the case, might be because it's *[one of the most popular platforms](https://mashable.com/article/instagram-more-popular-than-snapchat--report-teens/)* that children use today. ## Previous news reports have also suggested that [pedophiles have been posing on Instagram as teenagers](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4872714/Paedophile-posed-child-Instagram-groom-45-girls.html) in an effort to groom dozens of children, if not more. *It has been known for years that there might be such threats lurking on Instagram and other places* [and literally thousands of children have been targeted online](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedophiles-using-clash-clans-instagram-7117707). This goes to show that the government and these social media companies are unable to prevent *any and all risks* that users might face and parents should be responsible in knowing what their children are doing online. Pics: pixabay https://steemitimages.com/DQmaW48YhsgLS2fxaYkXCuon3tFpQEEh1tSUCU3jjJXv7RT/%40doitvoluntarily.gif ## Related Posts: ## [Social Media Users Rate Instagram As Most Damaging To Young People's Mental Health](https://steemit.com/socialmedia/@doitvoluntarily/social-media-users-rate-instagram-as-most-damaging-to-young-people-s-mental-health) ## [Parents Pay The Price Of Putting Their Children On Social Media](https://steemit.com/children/@doitvoluntarily/parents-pay-the-price-of-putting-their-children-on-social-media) ## [New Study Investigates Link Between Social Media, Depression, and Anxiety](https://steemit.com/psychology/@doitvoluntarily/new-study-investigates-link-between-social-media-depression-and-anxiety)