Children face growing risks of grooming, manipulation and sextortion in online spaces as predators use coercion tactics and emerging tools like generative AI. In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) logged more than 546,000 reports of online enticement, a 192% increase compared to 2023.
Online grooming has evolved beyond chat rooms and now predators exploit social media, gaming platforms and encrypted apps to target children.
The NCMEC warns parents that online predators are now using generative AI to manipulate children by presenting fake images that appear realistic, creating false online personas to communicate with them. In 2024, the group’s CyberTipline saw a 1,325% increase in reports involving generative AI — from 4,700 in 2023 to 67,000 in 2024…