A new campaign warns children about the dangers of sharing images and videos of a sexual nature. Parents are encouraged to openly discuss these issues with their children. The Institute for Internet Watch (IWF) in Cambridgeshire said that «promotion and solicitation of nude people is becoming «normalised' among young people». The Think Before You Share campaign aims to encourage parents, students and young people to «get over the embarrassment" and «talk about it». IWF worked closely with researchers at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge and Chelmsford, who interviewed hundreds of young people about how they are coming of age in the digital age.

A new research project from the International Police and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI) at the ARU is supporting the national campaign. The university said faculty spoke with 307 students «who shared their experiences of growing up in a digital world where they communicate with their friends, play games and do their schoolwork online». Many people talked about how they had received unwanted sexual images, and some said that it had become normal and a part of their lives. They said apps they use, such as Snapchat and TikTok, are also being used by criminals to communicate with children and encourage them to share sexually explicit images. told According to the results of his research, «in some cases, groups of students, mostly boys, participate in the 'football card collecting culture' of naked girls of their peers».

«We've found that discussing this issue with young people is key, and it needs to happen quickly», - said IPPPRI Director Professor Samantha Lundrigan. The use of smartphones and the Internet is constantly increasing, so the question is how we incorporate them into learning, conversations and everyday awareness. In addition, we discussed parents and teachers who should also learn about the tools and guidance available to help them report online nudity, as well as how offenders primarily target young people, often through the platforms they use in everyday life. «We're doing everything we can to help young people understand the risks of sending and receiving nude images, as long as we give young people the tools they need to stay safe». IWF Chief Executive Susie Hargreaves OBE said: «The number of images of child sexual abuse online is increasing every year and we are finding that criminals who run dedicated commercial child abuse sites are collecting images from a variety of sources to cater to this».

Children who face online threats from criminals who try to extort money or images from them by threatening to publish or distribute nude images can take steps to remove those images from the Internet or block them as a precaution before they are available. She noted that the IWF and Childline have created a service called «Report Remove» that allows young people to take action to prevent threats of sexual harassment and stop their images from being shared online. To help get the message across to young people, the new social media campaign includes videos on TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat using «cheeky» imagery with evocative images of fruit and vegetables. In addition, comedienne Diane Morgan, star of Down Under, Homeland and Mandy, will be targeted on social media and through radio and podcast ads.