The Finnish chapter of the global Save the Children organisation surveyed 4,106 children aged 11–17 in February-March 2025 about their experiences with sexual messaging and sexual abuse among peers, as well as adults.
In Finland, 20% of children and 33% of girls experienced sexual violence online. And most of it apparently comes from adults.
The survey found that one in three children had been contacted online by an adult or someone at least five years older, and of these, over half experienced sexual violence. According to the survey, messages from adults turn sexual in nature most often within an hour.
Didn't have to worry too much about that with a dial phone when I was a kid.
The internet has given rise to a "whole new world" of abuse vectors when it comes to child abuse, and it also has the added "benefits" of being able to make views and preferences more extreme, and connect like minds. If you want a little bit of a glimpse of the proliferation of child abuse material, there are various articles written by Gabriel Dance from the New Yor Times with a good overview here.
But what is happening is that the internet is radicalising the thoughts of everyone in some way, with more heading into the extremes, whilst many are accepting what would have been unacceptable behaviour a short time ago, as normal. In the privacy of their own home, with no one watching and no feeling of being judged, they have been able to surround themselves with and desensitize themselves to increasingly more extreme content. And then connect up with similar minds, who will share thoughts and experiences and accelerate the radicalisation.
This isn't only for child abuse though, as this happens with pretty much every preference that anyone has, whether it be mostly innocuous like Pokémon or the worst of the worst paedophilia behaviours. Hat is a strong word - but I fucking hate paedophiles.
Like all things, the abuse is on a spectrum, but one thing can be ascertained by the trendline, and that is that all kinds of online abuse are increasing. Because not only is it easier, it is also available twenty-four hours a day, and offers a high degree of anonymity. People don't have to "risk their face" in the same way as they had to earlier, whether that is to protect them from being physically hurt, or recognised for a crime.
With all the benefits that the internet brings society, it is also undeniably a cesspool in so many ways too. It gives unrestricted access to ramp up and amplify the worst of our behaviours, and gives us a safe space to radicalise ourselves through the content we consume. Like any tool, it can be used for good or ill, and unfortunately many are using it to become sicker in many ways, whether that is through a lowering of their skillset, or a raising of their desires to the point of extremisms.
And also unfortunately, self-regulation for most people isn't an adequate solution, because most people don't have the ability to self-regulate on their emotional states and their desires. People are far more impatient and also harbour far more entitlement to have their desires met, no matter who gets hurt in the process. People find all kinds of excuses to justify their behaviours, but there is no excuse to intentionally harm others, especially those who who are innocent, have done no wrong, and are too inexperienced or unable to fend for themselves.
The other unfortunate fact is that while education is key for kids to protect themselves, most parents do a dismal job of providing adequate oversight the education required. Parents rarely know best, they act on what they can deliver - and it is often not good enough in an environment where they too are part of the problem. They can try, but it takes more than a few words of "be careful" for children to actually understand and learn and practice the right kinds of behaviours to be protected.
There have always been sickos in this world, but over the last decades our society has shifted to create more sickos through on-demand culture. People who are hyper-focused on their feelings and who believe that they deserve to get what they want, when they want, from whomever they want. It is all about taking more to satisfy themselves, whether that be money, resources, or a child's innocence.
It would be nice if people were just better humans.
Unfortunately, change starts with each of us and most of us are getting worse.
Taraz
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