Online risks for children in your community
Learning to understand how online harms can happen can help community organisations, services and practices to prevent and deal with the abuse of children and young people.
On this page:
What are the risks?
Digital devices and technologies, including online platforms and services, have many benefits. They can help us find connection, support and information. They can also help us to collaborate, socialise, learn and work. But they come with risks, especially for children and young people.
Community organisations, services and practices can help promote the safe and positive use of technology by being aware of the broad range of online risks children may face, as well as how and when they are likely to happen. Spotting risks early makes it easier to prevent them escalating to harmful levels. Knowing what support to provide when harm does occur helps to minimise the impacts.
Leading researchers Livingstone and Stoilova (2021) describe four categories of online risk: content, contact, conduct, contract.
Click or tap on the + signs to find out more.
Content risk
This is when a child is exposed to distressing or harmful content including violent, gory, extremist or age-inappropriate sexual content.
There are also risks in children’s exposure to low-quality content, such as some free online games that require repetitive action and are ‘sticky’ in nature. 'Sticky' games and apps make it hard for players to stop because they use techniques such as continually pushing time-sensitive play scenarios and capitalise on 'fear of missing out.'
Research: Online pornography was prevalent in the online lives of young people, with 13 being the average age when they first encountered it. (eSafety – Accidental, unsolicited and in your face, 2023).
Contact risk
This is when a child can be contacted by an adult (known or unknown to them) who intends to harm them - for example through sexual abuse, cyberflashing, cyberstalking, identity theft or recruitment to extremist groups.
Research: 55% of children had communicated with someone they met online. Yet many parents and carers were unaware of this contact. (eSafety – Mind the Gap, 2021)
Conduct risk
This is when a child experiences (or sees or participates in) harmful behaviour such as cyberbullying, trolling or sexual harassment. It’s also when they become involved in dangerous trends or user communities (for example, encouraging unsafe challenges, self-harm or eating disorders). These risks usually come from children around the same age, sometimes where there’s a power imbalance.
Research: 45% of children had been treated in a hurtful or nasty way online. The majority said it made them feel sad or angry, and some had experienced feelings of helplessness and low self-esteem as a result. (eSafety, Mind the Gap, 2021)
Contract risk
This is when a child is exploited by potentially harmful contract or commercial interests such as scams, gambling and exploitative or age-inappropriate marketing. (It also includes illegal trading that impacts a child, such as using the internet to distribute sexual exploitation material of them.)
Research: Young people who played games that simulated online gambling at age 16 or 17 years were significantly (40%) more likely to gamble with real money when they turned 18 or 19 years. (Growing up in Australia – What is the link between video gaming and gambling?, 2022)
There are also risks associated with the way technology is used, which can affect the wellbeing, privacy or fair treatment of a child or young person. These are often called ‘cross-cutting risks’ because they relate to most or all categories of risk. For example, using devices so much that it interferes with daily life, and exposure to biased social media algorithms, are cross-cutting risks.
What is online abuse and how does it happen?
Online abuse is when the internet is used to harm someone mentally or physically. This is usually through contact or conduct. It can happen to any child of any age, using any device that lets people connect with each other.
Online abuse can happen on a social media site, game, app, or any other online or electronic service or platform. It can include posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, livestreams, memes, images, videos and emails.
The online abuse doesn’t need to be physical to have a harmful impact. It may also link to or worsen abuse that’s happening offline, such as bullying or sexual abuse.
While online spaces can help children with diverse needs and circumstances to participate equally and find support for their identity and wellbeing, these children can also face greater risks. This includes being targeted with abuse because of their race, sex, gender identity or disability.
Research: 61% of young people with disability reported that the time they were spending online had a negative impact on their lives, compared with the national average of 55%.
– eSafety, 'A new playground,' 2023.
A third of children look for emotional support online from friends and/or mental health support services, so experiencing online abuse can also mean that a child or young person misses out on access to support and information.
Types of abuse
These are the main types of abuse that happen online or using digital technology. You can learn about the reporting and support pathways on our page about how to help a child experiencing online abuse.
Cyberbullying is when someone uses the internet to be mean to a child or young person, so they feel harassed, humiliated, threatened or intimidated. It can include:
- sending hurtful messages about them
- sharing embarrassing, violent or fake images or videos of them
- spreading nasty online gossip about them
- leaving them out online
- creating fake accounts in their name
- harassment by someone using a fake account
- exposing private information about them, such as their sexuality or gender identity
- encouraging them to harm themselves
- encouraging others to harm them online or offline.
Learn more about cyberbullying.
Image-based abuse is when someone shares, or threatens to share, an intimate image or video without the consent of the person shown. It can include:
- sharing photos or videos of the person without clothes on
- tagging a person in a post showing someone else without clothes on, to make people think it’s them
- secretly screen capturing a sexual image of the person from an online chat, video call or livestream
- creating an artificially generated fake sexual image or video of the person
- posting a photo of the person without religious clothing they would normally wear in public.
Learn more about image-based abuse.
Child sexual abuse happens online when a child under 18 is persuaded, pressured or tricked into sexual conversations or activities by an adult, or a person who has more power in the situation like an older child. This is a serious crime that is investigated by the police. It can include:
- tricking the child into sharing naked images or getting sexual in a video call
- recording or sharing child sexual abuse that has happened in person (sometimes called ‘contact abuse’)
- grooming a child (and sometimes people close to the child) to sexually abuse them
- blackmailing a child who has already shared sexual content into sending money or more sexual content (sometimes called ‘sexual extortion’ or ‘sextortion’)
- Buying, selling or sharing material that shows child sexual exploitation or abuse.
Child sexual abuse is often not reported because the child has been told to keep it secret, they have been threatened, or they think it’s their fault. They may also feel embarrassed or ashamed, especially if there’s stigma about nudity, sexual activity or online activities in their family or community.
Child sexual abuse, including grooming and sexual extortion, should be reported immediately to the specialist police investigators at the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).
Material that shows child sexual abuse is a type of illegal content. Anyone can report it to eSafety for removal to stop it being shared. If the child or young person has a copy of the image or video, they can also use TakeItDown to stop it being uploaded to a range of sites.
Learn more about child sexual abuse online.
Domestic and family violence can involve children being abused or exposed to abuse online or through digital technologies. It includes:
- using tracking devices, location settings and other features to stalk a child or a person they are with
- using coercive control to manipulate, pressure or scare a child or a person they are with.
Learn more about keeping children safe in domestic and family violence situations.
What are the impacts?
Online abuse of children can be extremely serious, with social, emotional, psychological and even physical impacts. The trauma can be ongoing, especially if the child is left unsupported. Some of the things online abuse can lead to include:
- anger, humiliation, shame, guilt, self-blame
- fear of further abuse
- reluctance to join in online activities that support wellbeing such as connecting with friends or services
- withdrawal from social activities, school and work
- loss of self-esteem and confidence
- lack of trust in others
- anxiety, depression
- always feeling under threat (this is called ‘hypervigilance’), particularly related to online activities or spaces
- substance abuse, self-harm and risk of suicide
- physical health problems, such as disturbed sleep or loss of appetite
- relationship difficulties.
In addition, if a nude or sexual image or video of a child or young person has been shared online and not removed, they can be retraumatised every time it’s seen again – for the rest of their lives.
How can communities help?
Keeping children safe online is a shared community responsibility. People who provide care or support to children can take steps to prevent and respond to abuse that may happen in their organisation, service or practice or through related activities. They can also help families understand online safety and how to get help when things go wrong.
Learn what to do if a child is abused online
Knowing how to recognise online abuse and what to do if a child experiences it means you’re ready to take action. You can stop abusive behaviour, limit the spread of harmful content and help the child or young person recover faster.
To find out common signs of abuse, as well as the various pathways for reporting it and getting support from eSafety, the police and counselling services, go to our page about how to help a child experiencing online abuse.
Protect children from online harm
Community interactions, activities and structures can give people opportunities to abuse children online and offline, so it’s important that safe use of digital technologies and promotion of online safety is a part of strong, supportive, child-inclusive communities.
You can make your own organisation, service or practice safer by following eSafety’s tips on our page about How you can protect children from online harm.
You can also complete the modules in our Reflection and planning tool to help you think about how to act in your community. The three modules will guide a review of your strategies for preventing, recognising and dealing with online abuse.
Help families keep children safe online
A community organisation, service or practice is often a place where families and carers connect with other people. It can also be a place where they find refuge and help in difficult times. You can play a key role in educating your community about online risks, including how to prevent and deal with abuse.
This is especially important if your organisation, service or practice is in contact with people who experience discrimination or marginalisation, or who may not otherwise have strong support networks.
Follow the tips on our page about How to help families keep children safer online.
More information
eSafety has a range of resources to support people with diverse online safety experiences and needs. This includes women, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQ+ individuals, people with disability, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
eSafety also has advice tailored for Kids, Young People, and LGBTIQ+ communities, as well as our advice pages for friends and family on cyberbullying, adult cyber abuse and image-based abuse.
Last updated: 22/10/2024
