Online grooming crimes have reached record levels in the UK, with more than 7,000 offenses recorded by police in the last year for the first time, the NSPCC said.

The children’s charity said the figures, provided by 45 UK police forces, showed 7,062 child sexual communication offenses were recorded in 2023-24, an increase of 89% since 2017- 18, when the offense first came into force.

When the means of communication was disclosed – 1,824 cases – social media platforms were often used, with Snapchat being cited in 48% of these cases.

Meta-owned platforms were also found to be popular with offenders, with WhatsApp cited in 12% of these cases, Facebook and Messenger in 12% and Instagram in 6%.

In response to these figures, the NSPCC has urged online regulator Ofcom to strengthen the online safety law.

She says there is currently too much focus on taking action after harm has occurred, rather than being proactive in ensuring the design of social media platforms does not contribute to abuse.

The charity also called on the government to do more to end child sexual abuse in private messages.

Sir Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “A year since the Online Safety Act came into force and we are still waiting for tech companies to make their platforms safe for children.

“We need ambitious regulation from Ofcom, which must significantly strengthen its current approach to forcing companies to tackle the way their products are exploited by infringers.

“It is clear that much of this abuse takes place in private messaging, which is why we also need the Government to strengthen the Online Safety Act to give Ofcom more legal certainty to fight against child sexual abuse on Snapchat and WhatsApp.”

Minister for Protection and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said: “Child sexual abuse is a despicable crime that inflicts lasting trauma on victims and the law is clear: the creation, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images, and grooming a child is illegal.

“I met with law enforcement and NCA (National Crime Agency) officials last week to hear about the fantastic work they are doing to bring these offenders to justice.

“Social media companies have a responsibility to prevent this vile abuse from happening on their platforms.

“Under the Online Safety Act, they will have to stop sharing this type of illegal content on their sites, including on private and encrypted messaging services, or face significant fines.

“The shocking case involving Alexander McCartney, who alone treated more than 3,500 children, demonstrates more clearly than ever that they must act now and not wait for enforcement by the regulator.”

A Snapchat spokesperson said: “Any sexual exploitation of young people is horrific and illegal and we have zero tolerance for it on Snapchat.

“If we identify such activity, or if it is reported to us, we will remove the content, disable the account, take steps to prevent the violator from creating additional accounts, and report them to the authorities.

“We have additional protections, including in-app warnings, to prevent teens from being contacted by strangers, and our in-app Family Center lets parents see who their teens are talking to and who their teens are. friends.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “From December, tech companies will be legally required to start taking action under the Online Safety Act, and they will need to do much more to protect children .

“Our draft codes of practice include robust measures that will help prevent grooming by making it more difficult for perpetrators to contact children.

“We are prepared to use the full extent of our enforcement powers against any business that fails when the time comes.”