With so many children using social media, gaming and messaging sites, children and young people are increasingly exposed to the threat of abuse or exploitation from both adults and their peers. Ofcom estimates that children and young people spend an average of 15 hours online per week, and 70 per cent of recorded offences of sexual communications with a child in Wales and England in 2017-18 took place on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. 

We know that groomers use social networks to target significant numbers of children, and new types of technology have provided opportunities for abusers to control and to coerce children into increasingly extreme forms of abuse. 

At last week's meeting of the cross-party group on preventing child sexual abuse, which I chair, we heard from a young person at first hand about their experiences of online grooming and the lasting effects it had. It's vital that young people have access to the support they need at the time and when they seek to deal with their experiences later on in life. 

I've tabled a statement of opinion on tackling online abuse and would urge Members to support this. I'd like to ask for a debate in Government time on what actions the Government can do to keep children and young people safer online.