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Snapchat has shared an update on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, as part of its participation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Know2Protect” program, which aims to raise public awareness about the risks of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) online.
Launched in April last year, Know2Protect aims to help younger audiences understand the risks and dangers of online connection, and the support systems available to them to both take action on and to report such incidents.
Snap was a founding participant in the program, and over the past year, it’s worked with the Know2Protect team to implement more awareness and assistance features in the app, while also conducting awareness pushes with users.
And now, Snap’s conducted new research to see whether its efforts are having an effect.
According to Snap’s research (conducted via polls on Snap):
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24% of teens said they had shared intimate imagery, unchanged from last year, while 33% reported having been groomed online, a slight reduction in incidence.
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35% of study participants indicated they had been catfished, which is down one percentage point year-over-year.
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Among those who shared intimate imagery, more than 55% said that they had been deceived about a person’s identity. Concerns about catfishing have increased by four percentage points compared to a year ago
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50% of those who admitted to having shared intimate imagery said that they lost control of the material once it was released. “This was even more significant for teens, where nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) said they lost control of their photos and videos - a 13-point jump since the last round of research in October 2024, and 20 percentage points higher than the 18-to-24-year-olds.”
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61% of respondents shared intimate images with people they knew or met online only.
These are some concerning data points, which highlight the scope of the challenge that both Snap and the Know2Protect project are aiming to address.
And while the numbers themselves remain a significant concern, Snap also reports that awareness of the Know2Protect project is increasing.
“Nearly three in 10 (28%) who had heard of Know2Protect demonstrated familiarity with the campaign, a 17-point jump since October 2024. In addition, almost half (46%) of those who reported being aware of Know2Protect were able to describe campaign elements in an open-ended question format, as compared to one-third six months ago. Encouragingly, nearly nine in 10 (89%) said the campaign caused them to seek out more information about online safety, a 12-point pop since October 2024.”