Richard Hogan: Our children are being sexualised, surrounded with extreme material

The idea that children under 10 are being coerced, blackmailed, tricked, or groomed into performing sexually online is a clear indicator that we need robust legislation to protect them.

Richard Hogan. Photograph Moya Nolan

The recent warning by The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) that there has been a sharp increase in child sexual abuse webpages featuring self-generated child sexual abuse material from children under 10, should wake parents up to the fact that pre-teen children should not have a smartphone in their hands.

The majority of those images were self-generated. If ever we needed a moment to wake us up to what is happening to our children online, this is it.