Targeting girls online
How online services enable the abuse and harassment of girls
Only 9% of girls report feeling safe in online spaces.1 This report examines how online services and platforms can be used by perpetrators to identify young female users and target abuse at them. Abusive communication can take the form of sexual harassment, technology-assisted child sexual abuse, bullying, threats and hate speech.
The research set out to identify the design features of online platforms that can facilitate or promote abusive communications with young female users. It explored the design of ten platforms, using fake accounts for a fictitious 14-year-old girl user. The platforms included popular video-sharing, social media, gaming and messaging services.
A combination of methods was used to understand the interaction between service design, perpetrator tactics and the targeting of girls.
- ‘Typical’ user journeys were mapped, documenting the design features that a girl user encounters when registering an account, editing her user information and engaging with other users.
- Relevant literature was scanned to establish what is known about the online victimisation of girls and the behaviours and motivations of those who engage in abusive or harmful communication online.
- Virtual interviews were conducted with eight experts in platform design, cyber safety and security and children’s online experiences and protection.
- Fake adult accounts were used to explore how discoverable the fictitious 14-year old girl was on the different platforms, whether adults could contact her and whether platforms currently do anything to reduce the risk of inappropriate or abusive communication.
The report urges the Government and technology companies to put measures in place to mitigate unsafe design features and protect girls on digital platforms.
Authors: NSPCC and PA Consulting
References
Plan International (2024) State of Girls Rights in the UK (PDF). London: Plan International UK.Download the report (PDF)
Key finding
Online service design can be exploited to identify, target and abuse girls
The design features of online platforms can facilitate the sexual abuse and harassment of girls and be exploited by perpetrators to target girls with misogynistic bullying, threats and hate speech.
Further findings
- Risky design features are built into the entire user journey, from the point when a girl registers a new account, through to finding, connecting and interacting with other users online.
- Platforms place the onus on girls to protect themselves online. Design features encourage girls to share information with strangers and communicate with users they don’t know, all while putting the responsibility on them to resist prompts to share information and reject approaches from strangers.
- Designing platforms with children’s rights in mind from the outset would reduce the need to retrospectively fix problems and create safer online environments for girls.
Recommendations
The report proposes 27 solutions that technology companies could implement to help prevent girls from being targeted with abusive communication online. These are practical changes that were not addressed by Ofcom’s Illegal content Codes of Practice issued in February 2025.2
The report recommends that:
- Ofcom should add the proposed solutions to its Illegal content codes of practice2 and Children’s safety codes4 as well as providing guidance on developing age-appropriate products
- the Government should enforce the minimum age for accessing online platforms and commit to tackling violence against women and girls
- the technology sector should consider how to implement the solutions outlined in the report and study how design features could be abused when risk assessing services and features.
References
Ofcom (2025) Illegal content Codes of Practice for user-to-user services (PDF). [London]: Ofcom.Ofcom (2025) Illegal content Codes of Practice for user-to-user services (PDF). [London]: Ofcom.
Ofcom (2025) Protection of Children Code of Practice for user-to-user services: Draft prepared under section 41 of the Online Safety Act 2023 and submitted to the Secretary of State in accordance with section 43(1) of that Act on 24 April 2025 (PDF). [London]: Ofcom.
Citation
Please cite as: NSPCC and PA Consulting (2025) Targeting girls online: how online services enable the abuse and harassment of girls. London: NSPCC.
