Being online offers many opportunities, from doing research and making connections to watching videos and playing games. However, spending time online is risky and it is important to know how to deal with difficult situations.
Below are some steps you can take to help with a specific scenario:
You’re being bullied or harassed online
If you are being bullied, you can get help. Online bullying is just as serious as bullying, and with constant notifications, it can even make it difficult to get away.
Online bullying can take many forms, such as messages, edited photos, exclusion or harassment of someone, or sharing non-consensual images or information.
If you experience online bullying, there are a few things you can do.
Don’t ignore it: Online bullying is never okay. Ignoring it doesn’t help the situation. Help and support are available.
Don’t retaliate: While it may be appealing to have something unkind to say, this can escalate the situation and you can get into trouble.
Block people: This will help prevent them from contacting you again.
Report content: Social media services and games must remove or handle content that breaks the terms of use or contact us. This often involves bullying. Reports are anonymous – the person does not know that you were the one who reported them. Learn how to report bullying on various platforms here.
Save evidence: Take screenshots if possible or keep a record of behavior that forms part of the bullying.
Talk to someone: There are many people who can support you, including parents, caregivers, teachers, friends and more. You can also talk to the helpline. In the UK, these include childlines and mixes. Visit Child Helpline International to find a helpline in your country.
Someone is threatening to share your intimate images online
Sexttorter is a type of threat when someone threatens to share nude pictures, semi-nude, or sexual information about someone. These threats can be real or fake images. There are also other situations as someone might threaten to share the image because they think someone is kidding, or because they want revenge.
Navigate the digital world
Nude images of someone under the age of 18 break the law in the UK as they are considered obscene images of children. This includes images generated by AI. It is always illegal to share nude pictures of others without consent, regardless of age. Most countries have similar laws on this issue.
If this happens to you, don’t blame yourself. You may feel worried, embarrassed, and scared you to get into trouble, but help and support are available.
The first step is to stop all communication with the person who is threatening you and preserve the evidence. This could employ a screenshot of a person’s profile, a message sent, username, email address, phone number and bank details. Please do not delete messages, images, or videos you send. Because these can be useful when reporting. Don’t pay or accept their requests.
Tell your trusted adults, such as parents, caregivers, teachers, support workers, and young workers as soon as possible. You can also contact Childline or Mix in the UK or find a helpline in your country.
You can report to the police what happened. Sexttort is a crime in many countries.
If you have original images on your device and someone is threatening to share them more widely, you can delete these images and report them. When you report content, the team will try to remove it or not upload it completely.
Remember: you are not alone and it’s never too late to get help.
Your friends say and share hateful content online
Online hatred is communication or content that attempts to isolate, harass or target an individual or group based on their identity (such as race, religion, gender, sexuality). Online hatred is harmful and can break the law.
It can be difficult to take action against online hatred. Especially if it’s posted by someone you know, you might want to ignore it. However, there are a few things that include:
Report your content to online platforms.
Send private support messages to potential targets.
It’s okay to personally tell someone about what they said or posted about why it’s not okay.
Talk to a trusted adult and ask for help and support in the next step. If you think the post is incitement to violence against a person or group, you can report it to the police.
You can also block or mute influencers and others who you think are posting hateful content.
You’re scam online
Scams are becoming increasingly part of online life for many people, including those under the age of 18. A survey on Internet Day, Secure More than 2025, found that almost half of 8-17 years olds have been scam online, with one-fifth of young people knowing the age when they lost their money.
Possible signs of fraud are:
If something seems too good (for example, a less-than-find concert ticket for a cheaper price).
I was contacted by Blue (for example, it was said that you won when you didn’t participate in the competition).
You are asked for your personal details.
You are asked to pay or transfer money.
While some scams may seem easy to find, scammers are good at what they do and use a variety of methods to target people and make them more vulnerable. Don’t be ashamed to get help.
It’s never too late to tell a trustworthy adult what happened. You can also contact your country’s helpline if you wish.
You can report scams to the hosted sites or platforms. If you lose money or provide your card details to someone online, contact your bank immediately. If you are a victim of scams online, you may want to talk to the police.
Becca Cawthorne works at Childnet, a UK-based organization that helps with children and young people to work together to make it safe online
