119. What You Can Do To Protect Your Children From the Dangers of the Internet with Susie Hargreaves

Disclaimer: Today's episode will discuss child sexual abuse. Please turn off this episode and listen to a different one if this is something that you may struggle with or do not want to hear.   The internet can be a dangerous place, especially for children. It is alarming the amount of child sexual abuse content that is circulating the internet. So how can parents protect their children online? My guest today, Susie Hargreaves, is sharing how the internet increases the rate at which this content can be shared and how parents and carers can keep their children safe. Susie Hargreaves OBE joined the Internet Watch Foundation in September 2011 as Chief Executive. She has worked in the charity sector for more than 30 years in a range of senior positions. Susie was made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2016 for Services to Child Online Safety. Inside the episode, we discuss what the Internet Watch Foundation is and does, the incidence of child sexual abuse online, how predators are able to target and groom children, findings in the Internet Watch Foundation’s recent annual report, and what you can do to help protect your children and prepare them for the dangers on the internet. In this episode we discuss: What the Internet Watch Foundation does What tech enabled or self generated child sexual abuse material is Statistics of how often this is happening and where it is happening The role the internet plays in the distribution of this content How predators are able to target and groom children online The most common websites and apps that tend to target children in this way What policies are currently in place and what policies Susie thinks should be in place to help protect children How the analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation cope with viewing this material everyday What parents and carers can do to prepare their children for the dangers on the internet Resources: Utah bans under-18s from using social media unless parents consent Internet Watch Foundation 2022 Annual Report IWF TALK Checklis