Better Internet for Kids

Key findings:

• The majority of children do not engage in sexting (sending or receiving sexual messages or images). Those children who do engage in sexting are cautious about it. Children most often send sexual messages to a partner, but they most often receive these messages and images from an unknown person. Receiving sexual images was slightly more common among younger children.
• One-third of the children had been contacted online by an adult, and the majority (67 per cent) of these children had experienced online sexual abuse. Experiences of sexual abuse were more prevalent among girls (33 per cent) and children of other genders (20 per cent).
• One-fifth of all children who responded to the survey had experienced sexual abuse by both a peer and an adult.
• The most common experience of sexual abuse was receiving sexually suggestive messages and sexually explicit images, but other forms of violence, such as requests to perform sexual acts on video, were also reported. A quarter of the children were offered rewards in exchange for sexual acts.
• More than half (61 per cent) of children who had experienced online sexual abuse had not told anyone about their experience. When children did tell someone, they most often told a friend. Children who stayed silent did not disclose their experience because they did not consider the incident to be serious, or because they were ashamed or scared.

According to the report, children and young people are aware of sexual messaging, the importance of consent, the possible risks involved, and online sexual abuse. Some children know how to protect themselves and how to act online, but despite this, a large proportion have experienced some form of sexual abuse by a peer or an adult. Sexualised contacts and sexual abuse are part of everyday life for children.

This development is worrying and must be continuously addressed by increasing awareness among children, young people and adults about sexual abuse, how to address it, and how to prevent it. The Finnish Hotline carried out a social media campaign aimed at young people in June 2026 and, in August 2026, launched a nationwide campaign addressed to parents and caregivers. The purpose of these actions is to strengthen children’s and young people’s knowledge, support safer online behaviour, and lower the threshold for seeking help and reporting harmful experiences.

Read the full report, It happens all the time (pdf).

Find out more about the Finnish Hotline.

Find more information about the work of the Finnish Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness-raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services, or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.