Thorn 2024 Youth Perspectives: 1 in 3 young boys aged 9-12 report online sexual interactions, the highest rate in five years

Thorn released its 2024 Youth Perspectives Report revealing that one in three boys aged 9 to 12 report having an online sexual interaction, the highest rate in five years of tracking. Younger boys aged 9 to 12 experienced a 14 percent increase in potentially harmful online experiences, with sharp rises in being sent sexual messages (up 12 percent) and being asked to send nude photos or videos (up 9 percent). Nearly three in five younger boys reported feeling bullied or made uncomfortable online. Critically, the data shows this represents a shift in predatory tactics targeting younger boys, not changes in the boys' own behaviour: their rates of sharing intimate images remained virtually unchanged from 2023.

A world-leading AI online-safety platform, Guardii detects the conversational mechanics that precede these requests before a child responds or is coerced into sharing material. The anti-grooming filter identifies trust-building sequences that shift toward sexual topics, boundary testing, and requests for images; the anti-sextortion module flags language combining image solicitation with threats, urgency, or promises of reward. Both operate across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other platforms in real time, surfacing a child in crisis to a parent or school professional at the moment intervention can prevent the harm, not after the image has been shared or the threat has escalated to blackmail.