Groomers can use social media, instant messaging apps or online gaming platforms to connect with a young person or child. It's easy for groomers to hide their identity online – they may pretend to be younger than they are, and then chat and become 'friends' with children.
Groomers can use multiple online platforms to contact the same child. They can spend time learning about a young person’s interests from their online profiles and posts, and then use this knowledge to help them build up a relationship. Then, once a relationship has been established, they might encourage the child to communicate using a private or encrypted messaging service.
Groomers may look for:
- usernames or comments that are flirtatious or have a sexual meaning.
- public comments that suggest a child has low self-esteem or is vulnerable.
However, groomers don't always target a particular child. Sometimes they'll send messages to hundreds of young people and wait to see who responds. The online environment makes it easier for groomers to target several children at once. It can also make the grooming process much quicker.Groomers don't need to meet children in real life to abuse them. After making online contact, a groomer may convince a child to meet in person. However, groomers can also sexually exploit children and young people by persuading them to take part in online sexual activity. The Internet Watch Foundation found that over 70% of identified child sexual abuse images in 2021 were self-generated.
Social media and other online platforms are also used to groom children to involve them in criminal exploitation, for example county lines.