Latest helpline trends: Quarter 1, 2016

The Insafe network of helplines collects data about the types of calls that they receive and this is analysed every three months to look at trends and new and emerging issues.

Date 2016-06-28 Author BIK team Section awareness, helplines

The most recent data collection covered the period from January - March 2016 inclusive and saw 9,059 contacts which all related to online issues. The latest set of data shows that there has been yet another rise in the number of calls relating to cyberbullying with this rising by one percentage point since the last quarter (October-December 2015) but by four percentage points from the quarter prior to that (July-September 2015). 

Other key findings include:
  • Recent discussions with helplines have acknowledged that an increasing number of cases now have a digital element to them. The recently published research report from EU Kids Online: Operations, effectiveness and emerging issues for internet safety helplines found that "[Helpline] staff state that internet problems are now an increasing feature of issues presented to its service by children. Almost every call or contact from children… now has some online or digital aspect." The report also goes on to say that in one helpline, the number of calls concerning online issues is often under represented primarily because of the limitations of the CRM (customer relationship management) system which only allows one option to be described as the reason for contact. 
  • Helplines continue to report increasing numbers of calls concerning sextortion. The network has attended a number of meetings during this reporting period, including with industry, where sextortion was discussed and clearly this is a growing problem across Europe and beyond. In response, Safer Internet Centres are starting to develop resources to help with responses to this issue.
  • Some helplines highlighted the fact that they are receiving calls from individuals concerned about potential grooming for radicalisation taking place. Clearly, given the current climate, this is a cause for concern and online extremism and radicalisation was the focus of an Insafe training meeting last year. The helplines also discussed a couple of case studies concerning this topic during the most recent training meeting in April. A previous edition of the BIK bulletin also focused on the challenges surrounding this.

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