Children could get online grooming 'alerts' - NSPCC

Children at risk of online grooming should be sent automatic alerts as part of the government's internet safety strategy, the NSPCC has said.

The children's charity said existing algorithms could be used to flag suspected groomers to moderators.

A "staggering" 1,316 offences were recorded in the first six months of a new child grooming law being introduced last year in England and Wales.

Minister Matt Hancock said he would be robust with social media companies.

The minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the government was working on making the UK the safest place in the world to go online and that can and "must" include grooming alerts.

He told BBC Breakfast that as a father of three young children it was something that "really mattered" to him.

Posing as a schoolgirl to expose online groomers
Father's warning after son was groomed online
Before the new offence of sexual communication with a child was introduced in April, police could not intervene until groomers attempted to meet their targets face-to-face.

Of the cases recorded, the youngest victim was a seven-year-old girl, although girls aged between 12 and 15 were the most likely to be targeted by predators.

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat were the most common sites used by offenders, making up 63% of all incidents.

The NSPCC, which campaigned to bring in the new legislation, has criticised social media companies for not making the most of the technology they already use to enforce the law.

Algorithms - the calculations that tell computers what to do - are currently used by social media companies to flag up images of child abuse, hate speech and extremist material.

The charity said the same techniques should be used to pick up "grooming language" and then send an automatic alert to both the child and moderators.