Where are children abused? The first contact often happens in schools, neighbourhoods, or other community settings, involving people the child already knows. Existing social relationships extend into digital spaces, where messaging apps and social media become an instrument to continue communication, isolate the child, or initiate abuse in ways that feel informal and familiar. The online environment can make these interactions more constant, private and difficult for adults to observe. The shift can be subtle or sudden. Conversations move from public spaces into private messages, across open platforms into closed or encrypted chats. These features can create a sense of privacy, while also making interactions harder to see or interrupt. Children may be encouraged to keep the exchange secret, with the perpetrators framing it as something special, not meant to be shared with anyone else. Throughout, the platforms play a role by enabling contact, shaping how interactions unfold and providing tools that can be misused to isolate, threaten and control. And so the same platforms that connect, entertain and support children can also become an environment where harm unfolds, often quietly, and often unseen. At the same time, harm can begin solely online. Contact with new people can begin almost anywhere, at any time: a direct message, a comment, a friend request, a private game chat, or a voice channel. Social media Through Children’s Eyes Where are children abused? 23