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Recap -Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund Convening 2025

Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund Convening 2025 - Recap.

Last week, researchers and industry partners gathered for the third year in a row – this time in Singapore –  to bring together different perspectives and expertise for tackling online CSEA.

Hosted by Safe Online and the Tech Coalition on the margins of the Trust and Safety Professionals Association (TSPA) APAC Summit, this year’s Research Fund Convening brought together nearly 40 participants from across sectors and regions. The goal: to move from insight to implementation, to ensure that research doesn’t just describe problems, but helps shape solutions that work in the real world.

Setting the stage

Opening remarks by Kay Chau from the Tech Coalition underscored the unique role that the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund plays for industry:

“Since its inception, the Research Fund has supported nearly USD 3 million in independent studies, helping ensure that decisions within member companies are informed by evidence rather than assumptions.”

Snigdha Bhardwaj, Director of Trust and Safety at Google- who has been a great supporter of the Research Fund through hosting the convenings – kicked off the day with a discussion of their pioneering work with generative AI and how to proactively mitigate risks, emphasizing that partnership with other actors within the ecosystem is crucial to create a safer internet.

Regional realities

The first panel of the day brought in evidence from the region – the Philippines, Cambodia, Nepal, Kenya, and Australia – painting a clearer and more nuanced picture of how children and caregivers navigate their online lives.

Children have their own protective strategies that they employ in digital spaces. Many run quick “background checks” on new contacts, look for mutual friends, or test for consistency in conversation. They weigh benefits and harms almost instinctively—moment-to-moment calculations that adults often underestimate. And yet, the formal act of reporting remains challenging. Many children fear the process isn’t confidential or doubt that it leads to meaningful change. Others simply find that it breaks the natural rhythm of their digital experience – hinting at solutions by building reporting or help seeking tools into the regular flow of platform experiences.

The discussion turned from children to caregivers: the research from ChildSafeNet found that parents often know about screen-time limits but rarely about the “three Cs” of online safety: contact, content, and conduct. But the barrier isn’t just knowledge, but also dynamics. For instance, in many households represented in the research in Nepal, fathers possess stronger digital skills but tend to be more emotionally distant from day-to-day parenting. Mothers, meanwhile, often maintain closer emotional bonds but lack the same technical confidence.

Participants reflected on how parenting education could bridge that divide: combining digital literacy with emotional literacy, and helping caregivers recognise that protecting children online means being both technically capable and emotionally available.

Build research into the product cycle

Safety tools and interventions work best when they’re baked into how people already move online and responsive to the dynamics that shape their relationships. Understanding children’s protective strategies, and the realities of how caregivers support or fail to support them, can help designers and educators create features and programs that feel intuitive, empathetic, and effective rather than punitive or detached.

Building balanced research–industry partnerships

The next session peeled back the curtain on what collaboration between researchers and companies can really look like when it works. Several grantees shared experiences of designing and implementing studies in collaboration with tech platforms—from building advisory panels that inform researchers around aspects of approaches such as questionnaire wording for industry input, to distributing surveys that lead to insights that impact platforms’ design of products, policies or  processes.

Most importantly, speakers were candid about the practicalities of collaboration: access to real-world systems, internal approvals, sensitivity reviews, and the need for legal agreements to protect competitive information. Some teams produced individualised reports for specific platforms under confidentiality, while publishing aggregated findings publicly.

Clear boundaries with industry partners, including being aligned on independent research questions, ensured that even when methodologies were adjusted (for example to be able to work with a platform’s internal approval processes and data-collection timeline), the scientific integrity of the results remained unimpacted.

These partnership models can yield results that neither side could achieve alone. 

Partnerships necessitate trade-offs and structure, not just goodwill

Successful collaboration depends on clarity, trust, and mutual accountability. Building structure around partnership, through legal safeguards, shared objectives, and flexibility, turns potential friction into a pathway for impact.

Additionally, the convening featured all 11 grantees of the Research Fund presenting their work in a dynamic “lightning round” format. This rapid-fire session offered participants a quick but comprehensive overview of each research project. Following this, a “marketplace” session allowed for deeper engagement, giving attendees the opportunity to visit specific research teams, ask questions, and explore the projects in more detail through one-on-one and small-group discussions.

Workshop - from insight to action

After lunch, the convening shifted gears from discussion to design. In mixed groups, researchers and industry participants explored how to make research both more inclusive and more actionable. The first working session on creative methodologies for inclusion surfaced inventive ways to involve children and young people, such as AI-supported participatory tools with the required, tailored ethical safeguards built into open models by child participation experts. 

The second exploration focused on the enabling environment for translating evidence into practice. Participants shared the challenges of adapting research across geographies and user groups, and of aligning rigorous timelines with the pace of product development. Industry voices described the complexity of implementing findings within global platforms that must localize for distinct cultural and regulatory contexts. The consensus was that evidence translation is rarely linear: it requires flexibility, shared language, and mutual understanding of each sector’s constraints.

Strengthen evidence on what works

Participants emphasized the importance of systematically evaluating child online safety initiatives to identify which approaches are most effective and why. Sharing these findings – how interventions improve user experience and ultimately safety – can help all stakeholders make a stronger case for continued and scaled focus, effort and investment.

Closing reflections: collective commitments

As the day drew to a close, participants shared one action they’d take forward. A number of key themes emerged:

One action you’ll take

One final discussion returned to diversity: both of technology and of childhood itself. The tech ecosystem isn’t a monolith, participants noted; it ranges from hosting services to social platforms, each with distinct leverage points for safety. And “children” aren’t a single audience either. Designing for those most vulnerable, such as children with disabilities, or those in low-connectivity settings, often produces solutions that benefit everyone.

Partnerships necessitate trade-offs and structure, not just goodwill

Successful collaboration depends on clarity, trust, and mutual accountability. Building structure around partnership, through legal safeguards, shared objectives, and flexibility, turns potential friction into a pathway for impact.

The 2025 Research Fund Convening reinforced the value of bringing researchers and industry together to bridge evidence and implementation. The conversations in Singapore will continue to inform how the Tech Coalition and Safe Online shape future priorities: advancing actionable, evidence-based approaches to keep children safe online.

🌐 Explore the new Research Fund webpage

The brand new Research Fund webpage, launched during the convening, now serves as a living record of impact — capturing key indicators, showcasing collaboration through an interactive heat map, and featuring case studies and best practices from grantees around the world. It offers an at-a-glance view of how evidence from the Fund is driving action across sectors and regions, and how partnerships are shaping a safer digital world for children.

Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund
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UNICEF Viet Nam

January 10, 2024

Our grantees UNICEF Viet Nam Safer Internet – Safer Childhood Countries involved:Viet Nam UNICEF Vietnam will work on the Safer Internet – Safer Childhood  project will focus on strengthening the national legal infrastructure and capacity, improving early interventions and victim support, and increasing knowledge and engagement of caregivers, teachers and children

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DeafKidz International 2

January 9, 2024

Our grantees DeafKidz International DeafKidz Defenders Project Countries involved:United Kindgom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland DeafKidz International will develop DeafKidz Defenders, an interactive, accessible digital platform to help deaf children stay safe from online abuse and exploitation. Through educational games, children will learn to protect themselves from online risks, exploring what

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Why Prevention Must Anchor Africa’s Digital Transformation

Marija Manojlovic, Executive Director, Safe Online

Marina Madale, MTN Group Executive: Sustainability and Shared Value

Africa’s digital revolution is one of the most powerful development stories of our time. Millions of children now connect daily through mobile phones, accessing education, entertainment, and opportunities unimaginable to the previous generation. Yet alongside this progress lies a stark reality: children face increasing risks of sexual exploitation, cyberbullying, grooming, mental health challenges, privacy breaches and harmful content.

The latest data shows an unprecedented and deeply disturbing wave of digital harm worldwide, growing rapidly in both scale and complexity. The rise of AI companions, immersive platforms, and algorithm-driven feeds creates new layers of vulnerability. Children increasingly interact with bots and avatars that feel “real” but may expose them to harmful content. Without robust prevention frameworks, these risks will scale faster than any reactive response can manage.

Left unchecked, these threats undermine trust in technology, damage mental health, exacerbate inequalities, and erode children’s rights. The long-term impact on children’s development, educational attainment and overall well-being carries profound consequences not only for the individual but for societies and economies at large.

For too long, child online safety has been treated as an afterthought—activated only when harm has already occurred. While takedown mechanisms, prosecution, and survivor support are vital, they cannot keep pace with the speed and scale of digital risks.

Prevention must become the anchor. This means designing digital spaces where risks are minimised by default, children are equipped with resilience, and parents and educators are empowered to guide safe online behaviour. It also means making bold financial commitments and channeling resources into prevention, innovation and proven interventions to strengthen systems and equalize human and tech capacity worldwide.

Safe Online is the only global fund focused on child safety and wellbeing in the digital world. It has invested over $100 million ($25 million in Africa) with tangible impact across over 100 countries. But this is not enough, the scale and complexity of digital harms affecting children have far outpaced the resources available leaving millions of children exposed, unsupported, unheard.

Safe Online has consistently called for systemic approaches that bring together governments, industry, civil society, survivors and young people. Its investments in cutting-edge research and tools help countries understand the scale of technology facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse and implement evidence-based responses. For example, findings from the $15 million flagship project Disrupting Harm are directly influencing national plans across eight countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. 

The urgency could not be clearer: every day, an estimated 300 million children are victims of sexual exploitation and abuse (Childlight). In 2024, reports involving AI-generated child sexual abuse material rose by 1,325% (NCMEC), while online grooming and financial sexual extortion increased significantly, with teenage boys now making up 78% of victims (WPGA). Despite this, most children do not report these harms; research from the Disrupting Harm project shows that across 13 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, only 3% of victims contacted a helpline. This gap highlights the need for stronger, more accessible, and tech-enabled prevention and support systems. One such example is Aselo, supported by Safe Online, which helps child helplines deliver faster, more effective assistance through digital tools.

For industry players like MTN, this translates into embedding safety at the heart of connectivity. Initiatives such as Room of Safety, developed with MTN Base, have shown how youth-led storytelling can spark critical conversations about online risks. But awareness must be coupled with safety by design—integrating protections into networks, products, and services from the outset.

To make Africa’s digital future truly safe for children, we see five immediate priorities:

  • Strengthen evidence and data. Expand investment in research and measurement, so policymakers and companies understand the scale, nature, and evolving risks children face online and the interventions that are most effective.
  • Scale cross-sector, prevention-driven partnerships. Telecom operators, platforms, and ISPs must partner more systematically with organisations like Safe Online to drive the system-wide transformation needed, including embeding harm-prevention tools and digital education and skills for children and parents.
  • Embed safety in national digital agendas. As governments roll out broadband and digital infrastructure strategies, they must integrate well-resourced child online safety frameworks, ensuring inclusion and protection advance together.
  • Elevate children’s voices. Digital strategies should not be about children without children. Through Safe Online’s portfolio and other platforms, youth perspectives must directly shape policy and product design.
  • Increase and align investments. Scale financial resources – including innovative funding models – to equalize human and technological capacity globally and drive system-wide transformation.

Moreover, as GSMA projects half a billion African children online by 2030, the region’s ability to embed safety now will define the trajectory of an entire generation. Failure to invest now will endanger individual children and undermine collective socio-economic progress.

Safe Online’s message is clear: We are at a strategic inflection point to scale investments towards proven interventions and build safety nets that are as borderless and dynamic as the digital world itself.

For MTN, this means deepening partnerships with expert organisations like Safe Online to ensure that connectivity comes with safety.

For policymakers, it means aligning well-resourced national systems with global legislative frameworks and best practices.

For the tech industry, it means allocating adequate resources and fully adopting ‘safety by design’ principles across products’ development and business processes to prevent harm from occurring in the first place.

For donors, philanthropy and financial institutions, it means prioritising child online safety to close the current funding gap.

And for all of us, it means recognising that a safe digital world is not just about avoiding harm, it is about enabling every child to thrive, learn, and explore without fear.

Africa has the chance not only to bridge the digital divide but also to set a global standard for safe digital inclusion. By placing prevention at the centre and scaling cross-sector partnerships, we can build an internet where children are not just connected, but truly safe.

The opportunity is before us: to create a digital continent where being online means being protected, and where safe online futures are the foundation of Africa’s progress.

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Joint Stakeholder Statement: Call on policymakers to swiftly adopt the extension of the ePrivacy derogation

January 23, 2024

Joint call on policymakers to swiftly adopt the extension of the interim ePrivacy derogation Joint Stakeholder Statement Brussels, 23 January 2024 The undersigned organisations have been participating, from different angles, in the discussions surrounding the proposal laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. All signatories share the same goal,

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From pledges to protection

July 18, 2025

In an era where digital technology permeates every aspect of children’s lives, the digital threats impacting their safety have never been greater. The recent Digital Dialogue on Children’s Digital Safety, co-hosted by Safe Online, WHO, and UNICEF, brought together over 250 global stakeholders—governments, survivors and youth leaders, civil society, and experts—to transform commitments into tangible action.

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From pledges to protection

Protecting Children in the Digital Age – A Global Dialogue on Digital Safety

In an era where digital technology permeates every aspect of children’s lives, the digital threats impacting their safety have never been greater. The recent Digital Dialogue on Children’s Digital Safety, co-hosted by Safe Online, WHO, and UNICEF, brought together over 250 global stakeholders—governments, survivors and youth leaders, civil society, and experts—to transform commitments into tangible action. The dialogue served not only as a platform for sharing strategies but also as a call to action to maintain momentum from the first-ever global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence against Children in Bogota, Colombia in 2024.  

Watch Recording
A Moment for Reflection and Urgency

Opening the event, Sabine Rakotomalala, World Health Organization shared key objectives for the event -to offer a platform for stakeholders to share their implementation strategies and promote best practices across the pledges and to maintain the momentum for the next ministerial Conference that will take place at the end of 2026. 

Speaking at the event, Serena Tommasino, Senior Technical and Advocacy Lead at Safe Online, reminded the audience that while the 2024 Bogota Conference laid a critical foundation, real protection depends on building strong structures on that foundation.  

Serena detailed the vast scope of threats children face—ranging from grooming and cyberbullying to mental health challenges—all exacerbated by technologies like generative AI and immersive platforms. Despite Safe Online’s $100M+ investment across over 100 countries, she warned that funding remains dangerously insufficient. As a response, Safe Online, together with key partners, introduced a new coalition on Financing Safe Digital Futures, aiming to bring together donors, governments, and the private sector to catalyze sustainable investment and close the global funding gap. 

Youth Voices Lead the Way

Marie Mokuba, representing the Global Youth-led Movement on Ending Violence Against Children, issued a strong plea for genuine inclusion of young people—not just in consultation, but at the core of policymaking. She stressed the need for including marginalised voices right from the start – at the data collection phase; intergenerational dialogue, and continuous feedback loops to ensure that digital safety solutions evolve alongside the technology they seek to regulate. 

Survivor leader and advocacy lead at the Marie Collins Foundation, Rhiannon-Faye McDonald offered a deeply personal account of online grooming and abuse, underscoring the life-long trauma it can cause. “We wouldn’t build a playground full of broken glass and blame the child for getting hurt. So why do we allow this online?” Her call was clear: hold tech companies and governments accountable and shift responsibility from children to adults and institutions with the power to protect them. 

Governments Respond with Action

Representatives from Brazil, the Philippines, Kenya, and Kazakhstan reflected on progress and challenges in implementing the Bogota pledges: 

  • Barbara Flores, Executive Director of the National Coordination Center against Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse at the Department of Justice, Philippines stressed the need for sustainable financing and international collaboration.
  • Carren Agengó, Principal Secretary, State Department for Children Services in Kenya called for public-private collaboration for investment, data driven interventions, centering children’s experiences and for prioritising preventive rather than reactive measures.
  • Dinara Zakiyeva, Commissioner for Child Rights, Kazakhstan outlined investments in cybercrime investigations and school-based safety education, as part of their national programmes.
  • Fábio Hardman, Director of Child and Adolescent Protection, Brazil called for intersectional collaboration and emphasized child-centric governance, where the best interests of the child are integrated across all legal and policy frameworks.

     

Legal and Regulatory Tools Are Evolving

Marie-Eve Nadeau from the 5Rights Foundation provided a global overview of legislative trends, reinforcing the message that “a digital world that is safe by design and not risky by default, is possible”. She pointed to a growing momentum, from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Comment 25), to an evolving ecosystem of global and regional guidance including the Global Digital Compact adopted at the UN in 2024. The African Union Child Online safety and empowerment policy was also adopted last year. There are promising national laws like the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which are inspiring similar regulatory frameworks across continents. “We can no longer accept a digital world where children’s well-being is an afterthought,” she said. 

Building on this, Afrooz Kaviani Johnson of UNICEF emphasized the need for legal systems to keep pace with digital threats. She outlined recent developments like the new UN Cybercrime Convention and the EU’s updated directive on child sexual abuse, calling for comprehensive, future-proof laws that criminalize emerging harms, including AI-generated CSAM. At the same time, she stressed that “laws alone are not enough – implementation needs to be supported. It depends on operational tools, education, and sustainable resourcing.” 

Driving the Dialogue Forward
As digital risks to children grow more sophisticated, so must our response. From youth advocates and survivor leaders to government officials and legal experts, the dialogue made one thing clear: we know what works - now we need the will to act.
Watch Recording
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Winners of the 2024 Safe Online funding call

Safe Online awards $6.7 million to 20 new grantees to advance innovative and high-impact solutions to fight online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).

In response to the escalating risks children face in the digital world, Safe Online launched a global call for proposals in 2024 to identify and support the most promising solutions.  

Following a rigorous selection process from a pool of over 300 applications, 20 grantees have been selected to receive a combined USD 6.7 million in funding – USD 1.7 million more than originally allocated. This significant increase reflects the urgent, growing need to strengthen global efforts to protect children from digital harms. These new projects, from across the world, are designed to deliver maximum impact where it’s needed most

Additionally, recognizing the overwhelming demand and immense needs in the ecosystem, Safe Online is increasing our initial investment of 6.7 million by an additional 8.5 million bringing the total investments for the period 2024-2026 to USD 15 million. This expanded funding will enable us to support more high-impact initiatives and scale up global efforts to create a safe digital future for children

grantees selected
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The 20 initiatives announced today represent the first cohort selected through the 2024 Open Call. More projects will be launched in the second half of 2025 and early 2026 through a targeted, invitation-only process, designed to address emerging needs and fill critical strategic gaps. 

Our 20 new grantees were selected for their strong focus on innovation and potential for high impact. Each project demonstrates the ability to create new pathways for change and push the boundaries beyond what currently exists. In addition, the selection process prioritized proposals with clear potential for scalability and long-term sustainability, as well as those offering solutions that are interoperable and applicable across different systems and use cases. 

Grantees include international organisations, child protection NGOs and CSOs, research, and academic institutions and tech start-ups and include a range of path-breaking projects. 

Read more on the new projects here

New projects under the ‘Networks and Systems’ pillar will build the foundations of the ecosystem by formalizing mental health care models for frontline professionals working on online CSEA, transforming the response to Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) by testing a new model for survivors’ support, pioneering early intervention strategies to prevent CSAM by targeting individuals at risk of offending and addressing critical gaps in digital regulation enforcement by developing a fair and sustainable redress standard through the child-inclusive, collaborative COR Sandbox.   

Projects under the ‘Research and Data’ pillar will generate new evidence and data through  child-centric, participatory action research to understand children’s vulnerability to online risks, especially related to non-consensual sharing of private images; online coercion and AI and understand emerging forms of image-based sexual violence against children by exploring experiences of survivors, their parents or caregivers, law enforcement officers, and professionals working with children.

Projects under the ‘Tech Tools’ pillar will design, test, and develop technology solutions that contribute to the broader ecosystem and promote tools that are shareable, adaptable, and enhance efficiency in online CSEA prevention and response efforts. These projects include prototype tools for generating semantic hashes to help law enforcement and trust and safety teams more accurately identify new CSAM; systems to disrupt payments made by offshore offenders to facilitators ; and an automated AI evaluation platform, specialized in assessing CSEA risks, designed to help organizations evaluate the trust and safety risks of their AI models. 

This latest investment grows Safe Online’s investment portfolio to USD 100 million with impact in over 100 countries and accelerates Safe Online’s globally important role as a catalyst for innovative and scalable solutions to combat digital harms.   

“The response to our 2024 Open Call highlights both the urgency of the crisis and the innovation emerging across sectors. We’re proud to award $6.7M to 20 outstanding grantees - each advancing transformative solutions in the fight against online child sexual exploitation and abuse. With an additional funding of 8.5 million, we are bringing the total funding for 2024–2026 to $15 million and are doubling down on our commitment to scale the most promising ideas for children’s digital safety worldwide“
Marija Manojlovic
Marija ManojlovicExecutive Director, Safe Online
Read more on the new projects here
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UNICEF Namibia

January 10, 2024

Our grantees UNICEF Namibia Tackling Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Namibia Countries involved:Namibia In Namibia, the Fund helped UNICEF Namibia establish an online reporting portal, which now provides the public with a way to anonymously report cases of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. This project has also educated teachers,

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Narrative-driven case studies

Exciting Opportunity!

Safe Online is looking for an agency to conduct in-depth, narrative-driven case studies in the Global South that highlight best practices, enablers, and lessons learned in achieving systemic responses to online CSEA!

This work is part of Safe Online’s broader evidence and learning agenda, aimed at generating actionable, context-rich insights to inform programming, policy, advocacy, and investment in this space. 

Objective

The key objectives of this work include:

  1. Exploring how national-level systemic responses to online CSEA have emerged, adapted, and scaled;
  2. Identifying enablers, challenges, and change pathways;
  3. Highlighting multi-sector collaboration and survivor- and child-centred strategies.
  4. Contribute to cross-country learning and global knowledge generation.

This is not a standardised case study process. We are looking for a learning-focused, participatory approach that goes beyond documentation and instead supports reflective insight generation. The case studies will be complemented by communication products tailored to a range of audiences—donors, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates—including briefs, visual storytelling formats, and presentations for high-level dissemination.

Read the full Terms of Reference here

Key steps

1. Terms of Reference

Read the full Terms of Reference here

Click here

2. Register as a supplier

Register as a supplier on the United Nations Global Market

Click here

3. Please log-in

Once the registration is complete, please log-in via this link with your e-mail address and password

Click here

4. Procurement Opportunities

Select the tab ‘Procurement Opportunities’, and search for this Tender with this reference: RFPS-NYH-2025-503831

5. Express Interest

Select ‘Express Interest’ to access the key documents to submit a proposal.

6. Join the Pre-bid Conference

Join the Pre-bid Conference on 20 May 2025. You will have access to the link to join after you have completed steps 2-5.

7. Ask questions

Ask questions via the ‘correspondence tab’ no later than 22 May 2025.

8. E-submission instructions

Refer to the e-submission instructions for more information on how to upload your proposal.

Click here

Key tips

1. Signature Required

Make sure the technical proposal is signed if not it will be automatically discarded

2. No Financial Info

Make sure to not include information on financials in the technical proposal. If not, it will be disqualified.

3. Follow Evaluation Criteria

Refer to the evaluation criteria and include key experts’ CVs.

Key dates

Deadline to submit applications: 4 July 2025, 15:00 Central European Time (CET)

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Press Release: Safe Online Proudly Announces the Launch of the Second Edition of the Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Press Release

Safe Online Proudly Announces the Launch of the Second Edition of the Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

April 3, 2025: Safe Online is proud to announce the launch of the Second Edition of the Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, a comprehensive resource aimed at improving the accuracy, sensitivity, and consistency of language used in the fight against child sexual exploitation and abuse. The updated guidelines will officially launch at a global webinar on April 10, 2025, at 13:00 GMT.

Safe Online proudly participated in the development of the new guidelines, alongside ECPAT, Childlight|Global Child Safety Institute, the WeProtect Global Alliance and a diverse group of global organisations and entities representing different sectors. The updated edition reflects the latest insights and best practices in child protection, offering refined definitions and language to improve how professionals, policymakers, and the media refer to cases of child sexual exploitation and abuse and contribute to ensuring no child is hurt by the words of the professionals they meet. 

Key Updates in the Second Edition 

The Second Edition includes updated definitions and guidance on key terms related to child sexual exploitation and abuse, including: 

  • Avoid victim-blaming language: Encouraging the use of survivor-centred and blame-free language that respects how individuals define their experiences and does not shift the blame on children. 
  • Online Exploitation: Expanded coverage of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse, including grooming, sexting, and livestreaming. 
  • Perpetrator Language: There are more precise distinctions between adult perpetrators of sexual crimes against children and children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour. 
  • Harmful Terms: A repeated call to eliminate terms like “child prostitute” and “child pornography”, which misrepresent the nature of the abuse and shift blame onto victims. 

The guidelines also provide greater attention to intersectionality, gender identity, and LGBTQI+ considerations, ensuring that language reflects the diverse realities of child survivors and those at increased risk of sexual exploitation. 

A Collaborative Global Effort 

The updated guidelines were developed through an extensive collaborative process involving over 40 global organisations, including survivor advocates, legal experts, and child protection professionals. The Interagency Working Group combined diverse expertise and perspectives to create a globally relevant and adaptable resource that reflects the evolving nature of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Download the Guidelines
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2024: A Year of Urgency, Vision, and Partnership in Safeguarding Children Online

December 16, 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on a year marked by both immense challenges and significant opportunities in safeguarding children in an increasingly digital world. The rapid evolution of technologies—such as Generative AI and extended reality platforms—has reshaped our digital landscape, offering immense potential but also exacerbating the risks children face online. While these technological advancements promise to change lives for the better, they also outpace our collective ability to protect children from harm, presenting critical questions about how we mobilize the necessary resources to respond.

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Population Foundation of India

January 10, 2024

Our grantees Population Foundation of India SNEHAI: a Companion to Empower and Protect Countries involved:India Population Foundation of India will sustain SnehAI: A Companion to Empower and Protect to equip adolescents with tools, information and resources to identify and report online CSEA in India. This project, which functions as an artificially intelligent

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Safe Online Progress Snapshot 2023

December 18, 2023

The challenges to children’s online safety have never been more significant, and demand an unprecedented response. Our work, now more critical than ever, has risen to meet these challenges. From strategic investments to critical research and advocacy, Safe Online has been at the frontline of the battle to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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Safe Online Network Forum Latin America & the Caribbean

Tuesday 5 November 2024, Bogota, Colombia
Building bridges to tackle online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation 

Safe Online grantees and implementing partners working across the Latin America and Caribbean region connected for reflection and learning on November 5, 2024, as part of the Safe Online Regional Network Forum. The Forum brought together 20 experts representing  20 grantees and partners working in the region and beyond with a particular focus in nine countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru) representing seven NGOs, six International NGOs, two UNICEF Country Offices, two academia, one private company as well as four global and regional organizations. The Forum helped to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote networks and foster partnerships. It provided a platform for sharing experiences and lessons learned in combatting online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) both within the region and globally and in the context of other forms of violence against children.

Safe Online’s Investments in Latin America and Caribbean region: 

Safe Online has invested

million since 2017 with grants in more than 100 countries.
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Most funds, $45 million, are allocated to support systems strengthening. In addition to this, nearly $22 million goes into evidence generation, with another roughly $21 million into tech solutions. There has already been more than 15 million in grants made to projects in the LAC region across the three pillars. 

See map here
Trends and threats: the evolving nature of online CSEA

The digital world is rapidly transforming, bringing both new threats and opportunities in the fight against online CSEA. Discussions focused on how financial incentives, offenders’ profiles, and peer-to-peer abuse are shaping the landscape. Generative AI (GenAI) emerged as a significant topic, described as a double-edged sword. While offenders exploit its capabilities, GenAI also holds potential for preventive strategies, such as targeted interventions for offenders. Concerns were raised about gaming platforms becoming hotspots for exploitation, where predators act as peers to connect with children. The overlap between online and other forms of harm is becoming increasingly apparent, with virtual interactions often escalating into real-world exploitation. It was noted that much of the focus remains U.S.-centric, leaving significant gaps in addressing regional needs and global variations in threats and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, children worldwide often lack the digital literacy to identify risks, and parents and caregivers frequently lack the awareness and tools to guide safe internet use.   

The power of data and technology

The session highlighted how data plays a crucial role in tackling online CSEA. Victim-centric methodologies and innovative practices are shaping how data is collected and utilized, but significant challenges remain. The predominance of English-centric approaches limits access and insights in regions like LATAM, where other languages are prevalent. Overcoming these barriers is essential to unlocking the full potential of data ecosystems, ensuring equitable access to resources and valuable insights worldwide.

Shaping narratives for advocacy and action

The narratives surrounding online CSEA significantly influence perceptions, advocacy, programming, and financing priorities, and therefore require greater attention and alignment with robust data-driven insights and evidence. The diversity of approaches among grantees – ranging from advocacy to direct action, activism and awareness-raising – brings valuable richness to the field. Even greater potential lies in fostering collaboration among grantees and key actors to achieve shared advocacy goals. Crucially, effective advocacy relies on data and knowledge generated by multiple actors underscoring the importance of interconnected efforts in driving impactful change. 

Unlocking evidence generation for progress

Experts highlighted the importance of data for resource mobilization but also to demonstrate what works to tackle online CSEA across levels. Grantees highlighted ways in which they work with data in their respective organisations – from case management, survivors’ data to understanding broader trends. The lack of legal guidelines and limited data sharing by industry were identified as significant challenges. Participants called for a supra-entity to set standards and aggregate data, paving the way for more strategic use of evidence in tackling online CSEA. Participants flagged the need for overcoming challenges in evidence generation, in order to use evidence strategically to refine programmatic approaches and advocate for policy changes and financial commitments.  

The Latin America context: specific challenges related to online CSEA

Digital platforms are enabling rapid and powerful connections between societies with vastly different approaches to child protection and violence prevention, leaving indigenous and native communities especially vulnerable. Parents and caregivers in the region are often unaware of the specific risks posed by digital platforms, further exacerbating vulnerabilities. Digital threats in the region mirror global trends, with in-person connections frequently originating from online interactions. However, regional safety standards often fall short of global benchmarks. For instance, some countries in the region have classifications of online CSEA that fail to live up to international child protection standards, while others face inconsistent application of safety measures compared to other regions with stricter frameworks. The rise of GenAI in the region is providing new avenues for offending, as the lack of robust enforcement mechanisms undermines deterrence. A universal challenge in addressing online CSEA is the stigma associated with reporting and seeking help. While this issue spans cultures and regions, it requires tailored solutions sensitive to local contexts. However, the region also presents opportunities for innovative, localized solutions such as cross-boarders coordination, behavior change programs and peer education initiatives. 

The region diverse stakeholders – including governments, service providers, tech companies, parents, and children – can work together to create comprehensive prevention and response systems. Building capacities across these groups can help address gaps in digital literacy, improve awareness of risks, and encourage the adoption of robust safety measures. Peer education programs, which leverage the trust children place in their peers, show promise. However, these initiatives must rely on evidence and ensure accuracy and reliability to mitigate unintended risks. Engaging the tech industry to develop tools and frameworks that address local vulnerabilities while aligning with global safety standards is another critical step forward in creating safer digital environments for children in the Latin America and the Caribbean  region.  

Participants also discussed help-seeking requirements particularly focusing on staff wellbeing support for personnel working on online CSEA, with different exposure levels requiring tailored approaches. Barriers include limited resources for advanced tech tools like ReflexAI, perceptions of unequal support within organizations, and variability in cultural norms and organizational attitudes toward help-seeking. Opportunities lie in compartmentalization strategies (for example, Artemis of Los Andes and Aulas la Paz whereby engineers have little to no exposure to online CSEA); minimizing staff exposure to harmful content (e.g., blurred images for CSAM analysis), and leveraging AI tools to streamline workloads, improve training, and detect when staff may need support. Examples like the Trevor Project’s AI training tool and Tech Matters’ caller profiles demonstrate how innovation can enhance staff wellbeing while increasing efficiency. There is also a growing normalization of duty of care practices, signaling progress toward more supportive organizational cultures. 

Networks and collaborations

The Forum brought together practitioners and experts, fostering a spirit of community and shared purpose. Participants learned about each other’s work, identified synergies, and explored how they can jointly address online CSEA. This session highlighted the importance of aligning efforts and learning from each other, with participants leaving with new connections, ideas for cross-country collaborations, and a shared commitment to deepen joint engagement. It was a step towards strengthening the Safe Online community committed to tackle this pressing challenge.  

Overall, by fostering networks, sharing insights, and identifying actionable opportunities, participants took meaningful steps toward building safer digital spaces for children. The discussions underscored the importance of collaboration, innovation, and evidence-based approaches in turning shared challenges into impactful solutions. 
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Children Online Protection Lab – Request for EoI

February 7, 2024

The objective of this Request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) is to develop a better understanding of the Children Online Protection Laboratory (COPL) community’s priorities, identify ideas and resources and co-construct next steps of the experimentation process.

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From pledges to protection

July 18, 2025

In an era where digital technology permeates every aspect of children’s lives, the digital threats impacting their safety have never been greater. The recent Digital Dialogue on Children’s Digital Safety, co-hosted by Safe Online, WHO, and UNICEF, brought together over 250 global stakeholders—governments, survivors and youth leaders, civil society, and experts—to transform commitments into tangible action.

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2024: A Year of Urgency, Vision, and Partnership in Safeguarding Children Online

2024: A Year of Urgency, Vision, and Partnership in Safeguarding Children Online

As 2024 comes to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on a year marked by both immense challenges and significant opportunities in safeguarding children in an increasingly digital world. The rapid evolution of technologies—such as Generative AI and extended reality platforms—has reshaped our digital landscape, offering immense potential but also exacerbating the risks children face online. While these technological advancements promise to change lives for the better, they also outpace our collective ability to protect children from harm, presenting critical questions about how we mobilize the necessary resources to respond. 

This year, we saw a growing consensus among policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society on the need for global collaboration to create a safer, more ethical digital future. Discussions around AI ethics, governance, privacy, and child safety have expanded beyond niche circles, signaling progress. Governments have begun stepping up with regulatory frameworks aimed at mitigating harm, safeguarding privacy, and ensuring accountability. However, we know regulation alone is not enough. 

Closing the investment gap: a call to action

The single greatest barrier to achieving a safe, inclusive, and ethical digital future for children is the chronic underfunding of the field. Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), in particular, faces a significant—and worsening—funding gap. Despite the growing awareness of the risks children face online, investment in solutions has not kept pace with the scale or complexity of the problem. 

To implement the bold, innovative vision we need, governments, industry, and frontline actors must commit to increasing funding and resources. We must clearly articulate the financial and resource demands of protecting children online and rally stakeholders to recognize that these investments are vital—not only for child protection but for a safer, healthier digital ecosystem. 

This is not just about responding to harms—it’s about scaling prevention, building infrastructure, and enabling cross-sector collaboration. Without sustained, meaningful investments, our vision for a safe digital world will remain out of reach. Let 2025 be the year we close the funding gap and begin to match our ambitions with the resources they deserve. 

Strengthening the links: a holistic approach

Children do not experience online harm in isolation. Evidence increasingly shows that online CSEA is inextricably linked to broader issues such as mental health challenges, gender-based violence, extremism, peer-to-peer abuse, and violations of children’s online rights. Yet, these intersections are often overlooked in discussions about digital safety and child protection. To make meaningful progress, we must shift our focus upstream—addressing protective and risk factors holistically and investing in prevention as much as response. 

This means integrating online safety into broader conversations about children’s rights in the digital age and embedding their voices and lived experiences into everything we do. By addressing the root causes and interconnected risks children face, we can work toward a future where children not only survive but thrive online. 

Innovations, open solutions and collective impact

Tackling online harms will also require bold, risk-taking investments in technology tools, new approaches, and open-source solutions that benefit the entire ecosystem. The system as a whole—governments, industry, civil society, and frontline actors—must collaborate to create shareable, scalable tools that drive progress. 

Equally critical is the need to invest in the evidence and data infrastructure that underpins these solutions. Reliable, accessible, and actionable data from all sectors is a cornerstone for improving interventions, developing new tools, and driving effective research. Building this foundation will help us create smarter, more coordinated responses to the complex and evolving threats children face. 

A shared mission amid global uncertainty

All of this work unfolds against a backdrop of geopolitical challenges and conflicts that have tested the resilience of children worldwide. From wars and famines to economic instability and global displacement, children have borne the heaviest burdens of this year’s crises. These realities underscore the urgency of our mission. 

Yet, amidst these challenges, 2024 has also been a year of collaboration and progress. At Safe Online, we’ve forged impactful partnerships, championed survivor- and youth-centered approaches, and pushed for digital safety to be recognized as a critical element of global child protection agendas. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of our donors, partners, and grantees. 

Looking ahead with purpose

As we close this year, I carry a deep sense of hope—but hope alone is not enough. To ensure that 2025 brings safety, equity, and opportunity to every child, we must act with purpose. I appeal to all who share this vision to join us in scaling our efforts: through advocacy, funding, and bold action. Together, we can create a future where every child, everywhere, is safe, empowered, and free to thrive—both online and offline. 

Let us move forward with resolve, united in our commitment to a safe digital future for children and young people. 

Read: Wrapping up 2024
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Joint Stakeholder Statement: Call on policymakers to swiftly adopt the extension of the ePrivacy derogation

January 23, 2024

Joint call on policymakers to swiftly adopt the extension of the interim ePrivacy derogation Joint Stakeholder Statement Brussels, 23 January 2024 The undersigned organisations have been participating, from different angles, in the discussions surrounding the proposal laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. All signatories share the same goal,

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Safer Internet Day 2024 – Updates from Safe Online Grantees

January 29, 2024

Safer Internet Day, on February 6 2024, marks an important moment to come together to address urgent challenges. Governments, civil society, businesses, educators and children from across the globe are mobilising on this day to acknowledge and promote the theme of “Together for a better internet”.

What are Safe Online grantees doing to support a Safer Internet Day?

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GenAI & Child Online Safety: Shaping a Safer Digital Future Together

Gen AI and Child Online Safety

Tech Coalition and Safe Online: Funding innovative research on Gen AI

The Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund is going into its fourth year!

Ongoing collaboration between Safe Online and the Tech Coalition will center the Research Fund’s efforts on generative AI , ensuring we make meaningful progress in this critical area. While this year’s funding is at a smaller scale than past years – USD$220K – we are applying a more targeted approach for amplifying impact by honing in on one topic and applying the approaches and structures for industry-researcher engagement that we have jointly built over the past three years.

An Anticipatory Step Supporting Independent Research

The Tech Coalition and Safe Online identified a crucial need as GenAI is rapidly developing, to increase the sparse research landscape on the intersections of GenAI and online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).

The first project, announced at the Tech Coalition’s UK generative AI briefing, will be led by the University of Kent. The study will build on the work Kent has begun as part of the first cohort of the Research Fund with increased collaboration with tech industry. The focus will be on the proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and its potential impact on attitudes, norms, and behaviors among those who engage with CSAM. This research will also explore how the ecosystems of prevention and perpetration may respond to these emerging threats.

We are now pleased to announce two further projects for award under this funding round that approach this topic from a critically important perspective: children and young people’s experiences.

Youth Voices on AI: Shaping a Safer Digital Future

This project aims to directly engage children and youth in shaping AI development and regulation, particularly around online CSEA prevention. Led by Western Sydney University’s Young and Resilient Research Centre, the initiative will gather youth perspectives on AI, develop a “Youth Constitution for AI,” and inform policymakers about young people’s views on AI-related risks and safeguards.

The core focus of the project is aligning AI development with the values and safety concerns of young users. By understanding how youth perceive AI’s benefits and risks, particularly in relation to CSEA, the project will provide key insights for ethical AI development and governance. This initiative seeks to not only prevent online harms but also foster a generation of young people informed and engaged in shaping the future of AI.

GenAI misuse: Child-centered perspectives on risks and harms

This project, led by SaferNet Brasil, focuses on addressing the rising misuse of generative AI tools to create and share CSAM and self-generated explicit content by teenagers. 

By involving adolescents in semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops, the project aims to create a nuanced understanding of these emerging practices and inform the development of child-centered safety policies. The findings will be shared with tech companies, enabling them to improve safety strategies, provide risk mitigation tools, and address the misuse of AI for harassment and exploitation. The project will also use findings to raise awareness through advocacy, with a focus on preventing online exploitation and fostering child participation in these efforts.

Moving Forward: New Opportunities for Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

We must build an evidence base that assesses the effectiveness of mitigation strategies and identifies the most reliable tools for managing the risks and benefits of genAI, especially focusing on children as well as offenders or those at risk of offending.

This round of the Research Fund marks a critical development in understanding the benefits for children and young people of genAI technologies as well as the risks associated with AI-generated content, and these projects are kicking off now through the beginning of 2025. The goal is to foster collaboration among key stakeholders—ranging from child safety advocates to law enforcement and tech companies—ensuring that the potential dangers of genAI are met with informed, actionable responses.

See more stories from our family of grantees

Safer Internet Day 2024 – Updates from Safe Online Grantees

January 29, 2024

Safer Internet Day, on February 6 2024, marks an important moment to come together to address urgent challenges. Governments, civil society, businesses, educators and children from across the globe are mobilising on this day to acknowledge and promote the theme of “Together for a better internet”.

What are Safe Online grantees doing to support a Safer Internet Day?

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Bridging Perspectives at TrustCon 2024: Our Workshop Experience

August 12, 2024

TrustCon 2024, one of the leading events in the Trust & Safety community attended by over 1300 participants, provided an amazing platform for engagement and collaboration among professionals from various sectors. Our workshop was a blend of fireside chat, lightning talks, and breakout sessions for Q&A with researchers, ending with an energetic brainstorming session.

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Press Release: Survivors and allies demand urgent action to prevent digital harms and keep children safe online

Press Release

Survivors and allies demand urgent action to prevent digital harms and keep children safe online

World leaders urged to seize historic opportunity at the inaugural Global Ministerial on Ending Violence Against Children to make bold commitments to create a safe digital world for children and young people

November 6, 2024 [Bogota, Colombia]:

Today, survivors and allies came together to demand urgent action from world leaders to address the growing threat of online child abuse and ensure a safe digital future for children.

Safe Online, the Brave Movement, and WeProtect Global Alliance, along with 15+ partners, hosted the Satellite event ‘Safe Digital Futures for Children’. The event, held at the margins of the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, aimed to build momentum and urge governments to end all forms of violence against children, including online violence.

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UNICEF Cambodia

January 10, 2024

Our grantees UNICEF Cambodia Effective Prevention and Response to Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Through the Adaptation of Existing Models and Technology Tools and Strengthened Child Protection System Countries involved:Cambodia This project will support the Government of Cambodia to holistically and systematically address child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA)

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We are here to ensure every child and young person grows in to the digital world feeling safe, and is protected from harm.

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