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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Technology
Maya Oppenheim

Snapchat most used social media platform for grooming, figures show as offences hit record high

Snapchat Ofcom Peter Wanless NSPCC WhatsApp
Around half of grooming cases where the type of communication was revealed involved Snapchat - (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The messaging app Snapchat is the most widely-used platform for online grooming, according to police figures supplied to the children’s charity the NSPCC.

New figures from 45 UK police forces show 7,062 sexual communication with a child offences were recorded in 2023-24 – an increase of 89 per cent since 2017-18 when the offence first came into force.

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