Two Thousand Children Questioned Over Social Media Abuse: Since 2011, almost 2,000 children have been investigated by the Police for taking part in social media abuse – including sending offensive twitter messages. The figures were obtained following a freedom of information request sent by Sky News. The data also suggests that of these, around 1,200 were then charged with a criminal offence, cautioned or fined.{Tweet this}

Two Thousand Children Questioned Over Social Media Abuse

In the same time period, 20,000 adults were also investigated for the same offences. Of these, 11,292 were then subject to some form of Police action, such as a fine our caution. It should be noted that 18 Police forces from around the country were unable to provide data on online abuse and investigations, which means this is likely not the complete picture.

Section 127 of the 2003 Communications Act covers abuse taking place on social media, or via text messaging or nuisance phone calls. The number of investigations was questioned last year, leading the government to release new guidance on the offence, and raise the threshold for investigations.

In 2012, Hertfordshire Police had the highest number of investigations – rising from 291 in 2011 to 1,042 cases. The highest overall figure over the three years in question was for the Metropolitan Police, which investigated 2,099 separate incidents.