Cyber Safety Case Studies: Children's online feeds telling them 'how they should look and behave' Source: Sky News

Introduction to the Case Study Collection

Part of The Cyber Trust Family Internet Monitoring Project

NEW: FAMILY MONITORING PROJECT VIDEOS

The Cyber Trust has released seven videos in a series covering different products that families can use to monitor activity. To access them visit that Trust's Youtube Channel here.

This collection of case studies explores real-world news stories highlighting how children and young people can be placed at risk through their online activities.

The collection is drawn from real cases investigated by the Cyber Choices team at the National Crime Agency and stories reported in the press.

All of these cases could have been prevented had parents been able to monitor their child's online activity and intervene.

Children's online feeds telling them 'how they should look and behave'

A survey undertaken by Plan International UK, a charity which works to advance girls' equality would suggest that more than two-thirds of children surveyed have regularly seen content telling them how to look, dress and behave - and which careers and interests to pursue, according to research.

A charity questioned 1,440 seven to 17-year-olds and found seven in 10 girls (70%) and more than two-thirds of boys (67%) encountered such messages online. Six in 10 (62%) young people also said they wanted social media companies to do more to remove harmful content.

The charity set up six fake TikTok accounts and found content for 13-16-year-olds became "clearly gendered" within just 20 minutes and could expose kids to "increasingly specific and harmful gendered content" after less than two hours of scrolling.

The report describes how messages and content target girls with messages about how they should look and how they should live. Such pressure on young minds sets up unrealistic challenges to change the way they look and live.