Financing a safe digital future​

Safer Internet Day 2025

The cost of Inaction: Why we must demand investment in online child safety now

As Safer Internet Day approaches on February 11, 2025, under the theme “Together for a Better Internet,” we are reminded of the urgent need for collective action to address the growing risks children face in an increasingly digital world. 

The global AI race is leading to breakthrough evolutions in more and more advanced versions of Generative AI and immersive platforms with scant regard to safety, accountability and ethical considerations. The stakes for online child safety have never been higher. While these advancements create transformative opportunities, they also amplify risks for children online. The numbers are alarming:  one case of child online abuse is reported every second, and new data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reveals ‘2024 as the worst year on record for online child sexual abuse imagery’ with the IWF acting to remove images or videos of children suffering sexual abuse on 291,270 webpages – a 5% increase from 2023. 

The field faces a widening investment gap, with resources lagging far behind urgent needs. Regulation alone is not enough—without sustained and substantial financing, efforts to combat digital harms will fall short. Alarmingly, even in regions with strong regulatory frameworks, progress is being rolled back, leaving children increasingly vulnerable. 

Safer Internet Day is a pivotal moment to drive action. Safe Online will use this opportunity to rally governments, financial institutions, industry leaders, donors, and frontline actors to invest in a safe digital future. Together, we can bridge the funding gap, ensuring that technological progress serves the best interests of children and society as a whole. 

The cost of violence

Violence against children is a global crisis, with more than half of the world’s children experiencing some form of violence each year. Violence takes many forms including corporal punishment, child labour, torture, trafficking, bullying, harmful practices such as child marriage, and deprivation of liberty. The digital age has amplified the scale and complexity of these issues, exposing children to unprecedented risks—most notably, online sexual violence.  

Online sexual violence is intrinsically linked to the broader spectrum of violence children face. It does not exist in isolation but forms part of a continuum where children vulnerable to in-person violence are also at heightened risk in the digital world. In fact, Safe Online’s flagship Disrupting Harm project has shown that children who experience in-person sexual violence are at far higher risk of also experiencing online child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Violence against children has profound implications with devastating human costs. Children who experience online CSEA are two to four times more likely to greater risk of both self-harm and or to have suicidal thoughts, and experience higher rates of anxiety.

In addition to the human costs, violence against children continues to place both short and long-term economic burdens on countries and societies. The staggering direct and indirect costs of violence affect individuals, governments, and societies at large. It disrupts education, healthcare, and overall well-being, limiting future income and productivity.  

Research shows that survivors of child sexual abuse face socio-economic disadvantages in adulthood, including lower educational attainment and financial instability.  

The direct costs include healthcare, social services, and justice system responses, while the long-term effects hinder investments in sectors like health and education, slowing national progress. Estimates reveal that violence against children can cost up to 11% of GDP, with some countries’ costs exceeding government health expenditures by six times underscoring the immense economic burden. 

Impact of sexual violence on children

Source: Tackling childhood Sexual Violence Investment Case – an Introduction- Global Partnership to End Violence

Unpacking the costs of online CSEA

Estimating the financial impact of violence against children—especially in the digital space—is a complex challenge. While some data exists, major gaps remain in understanding the specific costs of online CSEA. A key barrier is the lack of publicly available, robust data needed for accurate cost analysis. 

A study by ICMEC Australia identifies 73 cost factors related to online CSEA, but reliable public data exists for only 10—primarily linked to justice and child protection. In Australia, the estimated lifetime costs of child abuse and neglect range from $3.7 billion to $11.1 billion USD.

In the UK, a study found that the lifetime economic burden of known online child sexual abuse cases is about $9 million USD, but when factoring in undetected cases, this figure rises to $72.7 million. Using broader survey data, which includes self-reported cases, the estimated cost could reach $1.7 billion USD. 

In 2021, the U.S. spent over $5 billion on incarcerating adults convicted of sex crimes against children—more than 3,000 times its budget for child abuse prevention research. In total, the 144,400 individuals currently imprisoned for these crimes will cost the U.S. nearly $49 billion. 

The investment gap: are we doing enough?

Despite the staggering costs of online violence, investments in prevention and response remain vastly inadequate. The UK’s cost-benefit analysis of the Online Safety Act suggests that for large platforms with over a million child users, the benefits of preventing abuse far outweigh the costs. Kenya’s five-year national plan to combat online CSEA (2022-2026) is budgeted at $18 million. 

While the UK is one of the few governments consistently funding online CSEA prevention and a major contributor to Safe Online—the only global fund dedicated to child online safety—resources remain limited. Since 2016, Safe Online has invested nearly $100 million in over 120 projects across 100+ countries, but this is simply a drop in the ocean considering the immense needs.  

To effectively mobilize resources for addressing digital harms against children, we must clearly articulate the need for funding and define the financial gap. A well-documented costing study is essential to highlight how underinvestment undermines digital safety, emphasizing the scale of resources required for global action.   

The cost of inaction is simply too high. Investing in comprehensive prevention and protection measures not only safeguards children but also delivers long-term socio-economic benefits, reducing the immense financial and human toll of digital harms.  

Call to Action: 6 steps towards financing for a safe digital future

Online sexual abuse is a preventable public health problem. The staggering costs of violence against children, both human and economic, underscore the urgent need for increased and sustained investments in prevention and protection. As Safe Online, we urge for prioritizing funding for holistic interventions, innovative approaches, and research to address systemic drivers and emerging digital threats, ensuring a coordinated global effort to tackle the global crisis. 

Increase official development assistance and funding to equalize the capacities across the globe to tackle this borderless crime, including through technology solutions and participating in existing global collaborative funding vehicles such as Safe Online. 

International financial institutions should provide technical assistance, financial instruments and mainstream children’s digital safety and well-being into broader development programs and digital transformation initiatives.  

Prioritize investment in knowledge, research and data on present and emerging trends and threats to children in digital environments to inform policy, practice and product design across sectors. 

Governments should increase public spending on child online safety in the context of violence prevention and child protection initiatives. 

Prioritize stable, sustained funding to tackle online CSEA – including investment in frontline responders across sectors, social services, and investigators that are trained on survivor-centered and trauma-informed approaches.  

Prioritize investment in prevention and public health approaches to address the systemic drivers of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, including
through evidence-based awareness-raising campaigns. 
 

Enhance safety on platforms and services by increasing resources for Trust & Safety teams, safety by design, tools, processes and survivor-centered innovative approaches. Expand child safety knowledge across broader functions such as engineers, product managers, and policy officers.   

Prioritize innovative financing models -from trust-based philanthropy and impact investing to catalyzing public spending and funding policy change- to scale effective initiatives for children’s well-being in the digital world. 

Stay in the loop.

Our purpose in detail

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

We support, champion, and invest in innovative partners from the public, private, and third sectors working towards the same objective.

We believe in equipping guardians and young people with the skills to understand and see danger themselves once accessing digital experiences without supervision.

We'd love to have a chat

We're thrilled you're interested in donating to Safe Online - pop in the details below and we will get back to you to set up a discussion.