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Reporting online images of my child

If you become aware that your child has shared nude images of themselves online it is important to know how to approach the situation and what you can do to get the image removed. The following advice and guidance will help you understand how you can approach your child about this and how you can report it.

Where can I report online nude images of my child?

If you’ve found out your child has shared a revealing pic or video, don’t panic. There are plenty of ways to stop things getting out of hand.

Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have developed a new tool which helps children and young people to report a nude image or video of themselves that has been shared online.

Reporting images helps the IWF take steps to remove it from the Internet. Given the recent Ofsted report and research from many other organisations, we know there are many reasons for taking/sharing and equally many barriers to reporting images and videos. It is therefore imperative that young people know that they can take action themselves and that something will be done.

Importantly, a young person can even report an image/video that hasn’t been uploaded and shared. The IWF will assign a ‘hash’ (a digital fingerprint) to prevent the image being uploaded by anyone.

More information from the IWF can be found HERE and the Childline reporting tool, ‘Report Remove’, can be found HERE. We would urge you to raise awareness of the new service and share the information about the ‘Report Remove’ tool with your young people and their parents/carers.

What to do if your child has shared a nude image of themselves?

It’s important to keep things in perspective and plan how to talk to your child. Remember, however stressed and anxious you are feeling, they are probably feeling more so.

The thinkuknow website has lots of information on what do do if you are concerned that your child has shared nude images of themselves. They also have produced a range of videos which provides advice and guidance on what you should do.

Understanding Why

Film 1 helps parents and carers understand the reasons why young people create and share nude or nearly nude images.

Talking to your child

It’s a good idea to have ongoing conversations with your child about sex and relationships including nude selfies. It might be a bit embarrassing at first but this film suggests some ways to start it off.

When should I be worried?

Young people share nude selfies for different reasons and in different ways, and some situations are more risky than others. This film will help you understand the different contexts in which images can be shared and how to respond.