Instagram is the most used platform for grooming crimes, report finds

The most used platform for groomers is Instagram, according to an NSPCC report based on police data. 

Grooming is defined by the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) as the act of building an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purpose of sexual abuse or exploitation. The NSPCC report found that grooming cases involves one major social media platform or another in 70 percent of cases where the method is revealed by police, with Instagram being the most popular. 

The NSPCC found that Instagram was used in 32 percent of those instances, Facebook in 23 percent, and Snapchat in 14 percent, citing data obtained from police under Freedom of Information laws. The data shows that the use of Instagram as a tool for grooming has seen a 200 percent increase from 2017 to 2018 (over a period of approximately 18 months).  Read more...