Take a breath. Most online problems can be contained, and acting calmly in the first hour matters more than anything you did or didn’t do before. Find the situation below and follow the steps.
Someone is threatening to share a nude or private photo
Sextortion. Often a stranger who seemed friendly, moved fast, and now demands money or more images. It targets teen boys heavily. Note: the « photo » may be an AI fake, which changes nothing about the plan.
- Stop all contact and don’t pay. Paying or sending more rarely stops it and usually invites more demands.
- Keep the evidence. Screenshot the profile, usernames and messages before blocking. Don’t delete the conversation.
- Block and report the account on the platform.
- Get the images removed. Use a removal tool (see report box) built for exactly this.
- Report it to the authorities, and keep telling your child it is not their fault.
An adult or stranger has been contacting your child
Grooming rarely looks like danger. It looks like a friendly, generous person, often met in a game or app, who wanted to move the chat somewhere private.
- Preserve the evidence. Screenshot the account, messages, and where they met, before blocking.
- Block the person on every platform they used.
- Report to the platform and to your national child-exploitation reporting line.
- Reassure your child they did the right thing by telling you, and that adults who do this are the ones at fault, even if they were pressured into doing things themselves. Being coerced does not make them the offender.
- Check the other apps. Groomers often reach a child on more than one. Review who else has been in contact.
- Don’t forward or save any images, and don’t turn to vigilante « predator-hunter » groups. They can retraumatise your child and get in the way of a real investigation. Let the authorities handle it, and seek trauma-informed professional support.
Your child is being bullied online
It can be direct messages, group chats, comments, being excluded, or having content shared about them. Signs include withdrawing from devices, mood changes, or not wanting to go to school.
- Listen first. Let them tell it their way. Avoid taking the phone away as a reflex, that often reads as punishment for telling you.
- Save the evidence. Screenshot messages, posts and usernames with dates.
- Block and report the accounts, and use the platform’s reporting tools.
- Involve the school if other pupils are involved; most have a duty and a process.
- Report harmful content that platforms won’t remove through a dedicated service (see report box).
A scam, a hacked account, or money has been lost
Free-currency scams, fake giveaways, phishing links, or an account takeover. Kids are targeted because they don’t yet spot the pattern.
- Secure the account. Change the password, and change it anywhere else that password was reused. Turn on two-factor authentication.
- Contact the bank if card or payment details were entered or money left your account; ask about stopping or reversing the payment.
- Keep evidence of the message, link, or transaction.
- Report the fraud to your national fraud or cybercrime line.
- Debrief together, kindly. Name the trick so they can spot it next time.
Your child has seen something disturbing
Violent, sexual, or frightening content, in a feed, a search, a game, or sent by someone. Younger children especially may not have words for it.
- Stay calm and open. Your reaction teaches them whether it’s safe to tell you things. Reassure them they’re not in trouble.
- Find out, gently, what and where, without pushing for detail they don’t want to give.
- Report or flag the content on the platform, and, if it appears to be child sexual abuse material, to your national reporting line (do not share or forward it).
- Tighten the setting that let it through (content filters, restricted mode, who can message them).
- Check back in over the following days; distress can surface later.
Your child is in distress or you’re worried about self-harm
Online harm can hit hard, and sometimes what surfaces is bigger than the incident itself.
- If there is immediate risk to their life, contact emergency services now.
- Stay with them and keep the conversation open and non-judgmental.
- Reach a support line. Crisis and youth mental-health helplines can guide both of you.
- Loop in your family doctor or their school counsellor for ongoing support.
Find the right service for your country
The steps above point to what to do; the reporting directory lists the specific, verified organizations and links for the United States, United Kingdom, France, the EU, Canada, Australia, and international bodies, grouped by issue.
Companion pages: the reporting directory (full contacts by country), the risk explainers (how each of these works and the warning signs), and the age-by-age guide.