Sexual photos or videos have been sent online to almost a third of girls aged 12 to 17 in Jersey, according to a new report published just days after the children’s rights watchdog warned that the island must introduce stricter online safety laws.

Published this week, the Jersey Children and Young People’s Survey Report also found that 37% of young islanders had sent messages to a stranger through online chat rooms.

The findings of the report are based on a survey filled out by 4,360 local children in school years 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.

The survey revealed that the proportion of young people that had lied to their parents or carers about who they had spoken to online increased with age – rising from just 9% of Year 6 students, to 28% of Year 12.

Overall, 28% of young girls in Jersey have received a message that scared them compared to 20% of young boys.

The findings comes just days after Jersey’s children’s rights watchdog warned that the island must introduce stricter laws to hold online platforms accountable for child safety and improve support for those who suffer harm online.

Children’s Commissioner Dr Carmel Corrigan urged the Government to “ensure that it is fulfilling its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in the digital environment” in a letter published last week.

She was contributing to a review exploring what protection children in Jersey have from online harms being carried out by the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel.

The review was launched after it emerged that Jersey’s Government had turned down Parliament’s offer to extend the UK Online Safety Act to the island in favour of creating its own legislation.

Scrutiny Panel Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis expressed her “disappointment” at the move, and said her panel would be “seeking reassurances” about what is planned to take its place after the decision came to light last year.

Although there are currently no plans to introduce new laws specifically targeted at the protection of children online, a number of legislative changes are currently in progress to address aspects of online safety by bringing Jersey’s laws into line with other jurisdictions. 

The changes are based on recommendations from the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce report, which found that half of the general public survey respondents had received unwanted messages of a sexual nature in their lifetime.

Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said that “the greater exposure of young people to online activity will mean that new protections will be particularly relevant to them”.

These new legislation will criminalise the retention and distribution of revenge pornography, the unsolicited transmission of indecent images, the creation and soliciting of deepfake images, and cyberstalking.

It is due to be lodged by the end of this year.

But the Home Affairs Minister acknowledged the “difficulties” in dealing with online offences.

Deputy Le Hegarat said: “Firstly, it is significantly more difficult to identify a perpetrator, especially those with a high level of technological knowledge.

“Secondly, once identified, there may be no way to bring the individual to justice in Jersey.

“Thirdly, the harm that emerges from distribution of online material occurs much more quickly than any justice system can respond.

“Taken together, this means that these offences require a more joined-up and sophisticated approach to address than most off-line criminal activity.”

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