CHILDREN in Wales are putting themselves at risk of online predators, an organisation has warned.

Children’s charity, Barnardo’s Cymru says social media companies need to act now to protect children after a survey revealed that 57 per cent of 12-year-olds and 28 per cent of 10-year-old have admitted live streaming over the internet.

Sarah Crawley, director of the charity, said: “Livestreaming is being used by predators to groom children online. We know from our specialist services that children are at risk of live grooming on online platforms.

“Tech companies are simply not doing enough to keep children safe. Our research shows that children use livestreaming apps that are not appropriate for their ages so tech giants need to ensure they put robust age-verification rules in place.”

UK-wide, Barnardo’s child sexual exploitation services have seen a 38 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of people they support and its research indicates nearly half of the children they help have been groomed online.

As well as potentially exposing themselves to online sexual predators and harmful content, many youngsters say they had posted self-generated content that they later wished they hadn’t.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, said: “Police forces are doing more than evet to stop children from being groomed online, but we cannot arrest our way out of the problem. By the time abuse comes to our attention damage is already done.

“Parents need to talk to their children about how to stay safe online and make sure that they have the confidence to speak up if they are approached by a stranger.

“The internet companies need to make sure that they have the necessary measures in place to prevent abuse happening on their platforms.

“More has to be done to protect children from the terrible harm we are now seeing all too frequently.”