The NSPCC has called on MPs and tech companies to back the Online Safety Bill following new research on the scale of internet grooming.

MPs and Lords are due to make final decisions on the new legislation next month.

Almost 34,000 online grooming crimes against children have been recorded by UK police since 2017, according to the charity.

A quarter of online grooming cases in the past five years were against primary school children, while 73 per cent of crimes involved social media sites run by Snapchat and Meta.

But the NSPCC warned that the number of offences and children affected by online sexual abuse is likely to be higher than published figures.

The NSPCC cited a YouGov poll which found 73 per cent of voters support the legislation.

The Bill aims to ensure that tech companies have a legal duty of care for children who use their products, as well as force tech companies to assess their services for the risk of abuse.

Under the new rules, Ofcom will have the power to ask tech companies to access private messages to prevent abuse, in a move that has received backlash from BigTech firms.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive said that its recent research highlights the human cost of fundamentally unsafe products and shows why the Online Safety Bill is needed.

“We’re pleased the government has listened and strengthened the legislation so companies must tackle how their sites contribute to child sexual abuse in a tough but proportionate way, including in private messaging,” Wanless said. “It’s now up to tech firms, including those highlighted by these stark figures today, to make sure their current sites and future services do not put children at unacceptable risk of abuse.”

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