Girls aged 12 to 15 are the most likely to be targeted according to the figures, which have led to a call from the NSPCC for action from government and social media companies.
In April 2017, the new offence of sexual communication with a child came into force. Previously, police could not intervene until a groomer met a young victim in person.
Some of the cases recorded since April 2017 involve children as young as seven, but most are of secondary school age.
The NSPCC wants social media to make better use of the algorithms that are used for online advertising to help flag potential offenders. For example, as well as identifying hate speech or extremism, algorithms could be used to spot someone following young people with no mutual friends or someone getting lots of rejected friend requests from children.
The government is to publish an Internet Safety Strategy this year and a consultation on its proposals closed in December. However, the NSPCC is concerned that a proposed code for websites is planned to be voluntary.
An NSPCC statement said: “At the moment the government has no plans for the Social Network Code to tackle grooming. That needs to change. That code should require Safe Accounts for under-18s, with extra protections in place, such as grooming alerts.
“Government is planning for this code to be voluntary. Voluntary isn’t good enough. It needs to be mandatory, and overseen by an independent regulator.
“If social networks don’t follow the code, there must be fines. The code must force social networks to publish data on child endangerment reports, response times and action taken, so it’s clear when they’ve fallen short.”
- Internet Safety Strategy: Green paper, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, October 2017: http://bit.ly/2BVLWOX
- The NSPCC’s Childline service is available 24/7 on freephone 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk
- Adults worried about a child can contact the helpline 24/7 on 0808 800 5000, by texting 88858 or visiting www.nspcc.org.uk