The most recent helpline data covers the period from October to December 2022. There were over 18,800 contacts made to the network which continues the upward trend in the numbers of people who are reaching out to helplines as has been the case for the last three years. There was an increase of seven percentage points from the previous quarter.
Cyberbullying continues to be the most common reason for contacting a helpline accounting for 16 per cent of all contacts, a rise of two percentage points since the previous quarter.
Contacts relating to sexting, sextortion and online sexual harassment account for 16 per cent of all contacts when combined and once again several helplines have cited an increase in sextortion cases in particular. As mentioned in the last BIK bulletin, it was noted that advances in technological evolutions are facilitating criminals who want to benefit from sextortion. When comparing the number of contacts relating to sextortion in 2022 with those received I 2021, there was a rise of 60 percentage points which highlights the scale of this growing problem.
The main users of the helplines continue to be teens (aged 12 to 18) and this group represents over 61 per cent of all contacts made – a slight rise on the previous reporting period. Helplines received almost seven and a half per cent of their calls from children under 12 which shows the challenges that younger children are facing when they are going online. During this reporting period, parents accounted for almost a quarter of contacts.
39 per cent of contacts came from individuals identifying as male and this represents a small rise of one percentage point on the previous reporting period. Reaching out to boys remains a priority for many helplines and there are ongoing discussions about the best way to make the services more accessible to this group. Only one helpline received more calls from those identifying as male during this reporting period.
Helplines will be using an updated set of categories starting at the beginning of April 2023. These were agreed on following a series of meetings and discussions over the last year.
Figure 1: Reasons for contacting helplines July – September 2022 (© Better Internet for Kids)
Reason for contacting helpline | Percentage of contacts |
---|---|
Hate speech | 1 per cent |
Advertising/commercialism | 2 per cent |
Grooming | 2 per cent |
Excessive use | 3 per cent |
Technical settings | 4 per cent |
Sexual harassment | 4 per cent |
Online reputation | 5 per cent |
Sextortion | 5 per cent |
Gaming | 6 per cent |
Media literacy/education | 6 per cent |
Sexting | 7 per cent |
Data privacy | 8 per cent |
e-Crime | 8 per cent |
Potentially harmful content | 11 per cent |
Love/relationships/sexuality (online) | 11 per cent |
Cyberbullying | 16 per cent |
Find out more about the work of the Insafe network of helplines, including national contact details, at helplines.betterinternetforkids.eu