Every fifth child is ready to meet a stranger from the internet: alarming conclusions from a study on online safety.
In the digital age, when gadgets have become an integral part of children’s world, the issue of children’s safety on the Internet becomes extremely acute. In a time of full-scale war, when families are separated and schools and communication are often moved online, children become vulnerable to new forms of violence, manipulation and exploitation. Recent All-Ukrainian research, conducted by the non-governmental organization Dignity Online by #stop_sexting in cooperation with the State Service for the Quality of Education, Crown Agents Ukraine and Proinsight Lab, revealed alarming trends that require the immediate attention of the entire society.
In times of full-scale war, when children spend more and more time online, the issue of their safety in virtual space becomes no less urgent than physical protection in real life. A new all-Ukrainian study conducted by the non-governmental organization Dignity Online (by #stop_sexting) in partnership with the State Service for the Quality of Education, Crown Agents Ukraine and analysts from Proinsight Lab revealed alarming trends — children increasingly find themselves in situations of digital sexual violence, exploitation and contact with strangers.
In the fall of 2024, sociologists interviewed 1,799 children aged 10–17 from different regions of Ukraine (except temporarily occupied territories). The aim was to explore the real-life experiences of minors in the digital environment during martial law, including the prevalence of sexual abuse, exploitation, exposure to war-related content and threats related to artificial intelligence.
The key conclusion: in 2024, every fifth child in Ukraine was ready to meet a stranger they met online. For comparison: in 2020, there were only 7% of such children. In addition, 20% of respondents received sexually suggestive messages, 18% met strangers in person, 13% received intimate photos, 12% were asked to send their nude images, and 10% communicated sexually with strangers on the Internet. The most alarming thing is that 3% of children agreed and sent their own intimate photos or videos.
Despite these risks, 64% of boys and 55% of girls did not report situations of sexual violence or exploitation on the Internet to anyone at all. Only less than half of the children blocked the offender, one in five shared their experiences with friends, 14% each contacted the support service, told adults, continued communication, but refused the offers. Almost a third did nothing, and another 3% accepted an offer from the abuser.
The study also found out which digital platforms are most often used by Ukrainian children. The most popular application among those surveyed was YouTube — it is used by 87.7% of children. This is followed by Telegram — 85%, TikTok — 83%, Viber — 81.7%, and Instagram — 63.3%. These data suggest that children are actively engaged in environments where both positive experiences and serious risks related to privacy, manipulation, or outside influence are possible.
Separately, the researchers emphasized that almost every tenth child (8.8%) accepts all requests to be added as friends that come in social networks or messengers. This unconditional openness in communication with strangers creates additional risks – in particular, of being drawn into harmful contacts, extortion of personal data or digital grooming.
The study also documented the use of artificial intelligence to create fake intimate images of children, which criminals use to blackmail, intimidate or prepare for grooming, a digital form of manipulation that precedes exploitation.
The online environment is also saturated with military content, which almost a third of children see every day, and almost as many see at least once a week. This is a video or photo with explosions, injured, dead, destruction. Accordingly, 45.5% of children felt anxiety, 41.9% — fear, and 40.1% — anger after watching such materials.
In addition, almost 40% of respondents saw sexual content with strangers at least a few times a year, and 13% – with people they know. Between 2.2% and 6% of children see at least one type of sexual content almost every day.
During the presentation of the research by the NGO Dignity Online, the short film “Protect Us” was presented, which illustrates three real-life scenarios of digital exploitation of children with the help of AI – from chatbots to edited blackmail videos.
The founder of Dignity Online, Anastasia Dyakova, summed up: the results of the study are only the first step. In the future, not only changes at the level of state policy are needed, but also an active role of society, business and law enforcement officers, who should together form a holistic system of protecting children in the digital environment.
