A new UNICEF study estimates that about 20 million internet-using children across 21 countries experienced sexual exploitation or abuse on digital platforms in a single year. The research is based on surveys of roughly 21,000 children aged 12 to 17 conducted between 2020 and 2025 in regions including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
More than one in five children in the surveyed countries faced online sexual abuse in the year prior to being surveyed. This included 15 million exposed to unwanted sexual content, nine million pressured into sexual conversations or sharing sexual images, and four million who had their sexual images shared without consent. Additionally, 1.1 million children across nine countries reported having AI-generated sexual images or videos created of them without consent.
Nearly 60 percent of the reported abuse happened on mainstream social media platforms—specifically Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok—while 14 percent occurred in online gaming environments. Affected children were roughly four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or self-harm and experienced higher anxiety levels than peers. In response, UNICEF called for stronger platform accountability, better reporting mechanisms, and expanded support services.