More than 1,200 child sexual abuse image offences were recorded by police in Wales last year, prompting renewed calls for stronger safeguards to protect young people online.

New figures released by the children’s charity NSPCC show that 1,287 offences involving indecent or prohibited images of children were logged by the three Welsh police forces that provided data – North Wales Police, Dyfed-Powys Police and Gwent Police – between April 2024 and March 2025.

The total represents a three per cent increase on the previous year and reflects a wider trend across the UK, where police forces recorded almost 37,000 offences involving child sexual abuse images during the same period.

The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information request to 45 police forces, showed that 42 forces recorded 36,829 offences involving indecent images of children – equivalent to around 100 offences every day.

Across the UK forces that provided comparable data for both years, the number of offences rose by nine per cent.

The figures have raised concerns about the risks facing young people online, particularly through social media and messaging platforms where images can be shared quickly and widely.

Of the 10,811 crimes where police were able to identify the platform used, 43 per cent took place on the mobile app Snapchat. Platforms owned by Meta accounted for almost a quarter of all recorded offences, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

Campaigners warn that the true scale of the problem could be far higher, as end-to-end encryption on many messaging services can make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to detect or investigate abuse.

The NSPCC is now calling on technology companies to introduce built-in protections on children’s devices that would block nude images from being created, shared or viewed in real time.

The charity argues that the technology already exists and could help prevent abuse before it happens, particularly in cases involving grooming, sextortion or pressure on young people to share intimate images.

Chris Sherwood, Chief Executive of the NSPCC, said the figures highlighted the scale of the challenge facing children online.

“It is utterly indefensible that we are still seeing around 100 child sexual abuse image offences recorded every single day,” he said.

“Behind every one of these offences is a child who has been groomed, abused and manipulated. They are left to carry the trauma, whilst tech companies continue to profit.”

He added that if companies fail to introduce stronger safeguards voluntarily, the UK Government should step in to make the protections mandatory.

The charity is urging ministers to go further in strengthening online protections for children, arguing that stronger safety technology should be part of wider measures designed to tackle online abuse.

In North Wales and across the country, police and child protection organisations have repeatedly warned that online exploitation can have long-lasting consequences for victims, with images sometimes circulating for years and leaving young people vulnerable to blackmail, harassment and emotional trauma.

The issue is regularly highlighted through services such as Childline, run by the NSPCC, which provides confidential support to young people experiencing online abuse or exploitation. One 17-year-old who contacted the service said he had shared a nude image online that was later leaked and used to blackmail him, forcing him to move schools.

Campaigners say cases like this underline the need for stronger preventative measures to ensure children are better protected in the digital world.