Project report
Protecting Children Online: Making the Connections Work
Anastasia Shuster ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This report examines how child helplines, online platforms, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reporting services can better collaborate to protect children experiencing online harm. The research surveyed 43 child helplines across 42 countries and interviewed technology industry representatives and child protection experts. It identifies gaps in current collaboration and calls for clearer reporting pathways, reliable signposting, stronger partnerships, sustainable funding, and structured knowledge exchanges between these organizations.
Key points
- Reporting content, removing it, and providing emotional support are often handled by different organizations, making it difficult for children in distress to navigate these systems
- Named contacts within platform safety teams and formal partnerships with priority reporting arrangements are promising practices that improve collaboration
- Collaboration remains uneven with reporting procedures differing between platforms, limited feedback to reporters, and variable access to partnerships across regions
- Child helplines provide valuable insight into how children experience online harm including local languages, cultural contexts and emerging risks, yet regular exchanges with platforms are limited
- Connecting children to services requires sustainable investment in trained counsellors, accessible communication channels and reliable referral pathways, particularly in under-resourced regions
Limitations
The report does not provide quantitative data on outcomes or the effectiveness of different collaboration models. It is a descriptive synthesis of current practices and gaps rather than an evaluation of specific interventions with measured impacts on child safety or well-being.
Abstract
When a child experiences harm online, reporting it should open a pathway to protection. But reporting content, getting it removed and receiving emotional support are different processes, often handled by different organizations. For a child in distress, finding a way through those systems can be difficult. Today, 13 October, Child Helpline International launches Stronger Together: How Child Helplines, Online Platforms and CSAM Reporting Services Can Better Protect Children Online. Drawing on a survey of 43 child helplines across 42 countries and 12 interviews with representatives of the technology industry, specialist reporting services and child protection experts, the report examines how those connections work and where they need to improve. I’ll be presenting the report today presented today at our European Regional Consultation in Dublin. With representatives of online platforms joining the consultation as guests at Google’s offices, it will provide an opportunity to discuss the findings together and identify practical steps towards stronger collaboration. Reporting Harm and Supporting the Child Online platforms have an essential role in responding to harmful content and behaviour on their services. Specialist child sexual abuse material (CSAM) hotlines and reporting portals provide mechanisms for reporting suspected illegal material and coordinating appropriate action. Child helplines bring another essential capability: a trusted human connection. A child whose intimate images have been shared, who is being threatened or who is experiencing cyberbullying may need help understanding what has happened and what they can do next. Child helpline counsellors listen without judgement, provide emotional support and help children navigate reporting and referral options. These functions need to connect. Removing harmful content is a crucial action, but children may continue to need support long afterwards. What Makes Collaboration Work? Our research identifies promising practices. Named contacts within platform safety teams help counsellors communicate effectively and escalate concerns. Formal partnerships and priority reporting arrangements can make reporting pathways more responsive. Accurate signposting can help children find a child helpline when they need one. Yet collaboration remains uneven. Reporting procedures differ between platforms, creating difficulties for children and the counsellors supporting them. Feedback is often limited, leaving uncertainty about whether a report has been reviewed or acted upon. Access to partnerships varies considerably between regions, increasing the gap in response mechanisms. Child helplines offer valuable insight into how children experience online harm, including local languages, cultural contexts and emerging risks. Regular exchanges with platforms could help turn that knowledge and expertise into better reporting tools and safer platforms. Connecting Children to Services Requires Investment Making a support service more visible can increase demand. To respond to that demand, child helplines need sufficient resources. Platforms that direct children towards a child helpline should help sustain the capacity behind that recommendation. Trained counsellors, accessible communication channels and reliable referral pathways all require long-term investment. The need is particularly pressing where child protection services and specialist reporting mechanisms are already under-resourced. Children’s access to protection should not depend on where they live or which platform they use. An Invitation to Act Together The report calls for practical action from online platforms, governments and child helplines: clearer reporting pathways, reliable signposting, stronger partnerships, sustainable funding and structured exchanges of knowledge. Its legal and policy annex also examines the frameworks that can support this work across regions. Commitments to children’s rights must translate into services children can find, trust and use. Our discussions in Dublin are an opportunity to move these recommendations forward with the people and organizations needed to make them work. Every child experiencing online harm should have a clear route to help and a timely, compassionate response when they reach out. Download the report and explore its findings and recommendations Anastasia Shuster Senior Manager, Data & Research The post Protecting Children Online: Making the Connections Work appeared first on Child Helpline International.