UNICEF: 20 Million Children Face Online Abuse

An estimated 20 million children aged 12 to 17 experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse in a single year, according to a new report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The findings, released on Thursday, September 3, 2026, reveal that this figure represents nearly one in five minors across 21 surveyed nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. The report, titled "Through Children's Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Mistreatment," highlights the pervasive nature of this crisis in digital spaces where children commonly interact. Researchers surveyed approximately 21,000 internet-using children between 2020 and 2025, combined with in-depth interviews with 100 young people who had experienced abuse. Key findings indicate that over 15 million children were exposed to unwanted explicit sexual content. Roughly 9 million children were pressured into engaging in sexual conversations or sharing explicit images against their will, while approximately 4 million had private sexual images circulated without their consent. In nine countries where data was collected, an estimated 1.