A new study reports that 12% of children aged 13 to 15 receive at least one sexual message online over a 12-month period ending February. The findings also indicate that a larger share of children are exposed to other harmful content, including violent or criminal material.
The outlet describes the research as the first of its kind, focusing on the scale of online harms affecting children. It highlights two categories of harm: direct sexual messaging and broader exposure to violent or criminal content. While the two provided descriptions emphasize different wording, both refer to the same underlying results for the sexual-message figure and the study’s focus on a range of online harms rather than a single type of abuse.
Overall, the reports present the study’s results and frame them as new evidence quantifying multiple forms of online harm to young teens during the specified period.
