Conduct: Online behaviour that increases or causes harm

Online conduct refers to the ways in which people behave online.

The main safeguarding responsibilities for churches, charities and community groups in this area are to ensure children and adults at risk aren’t exposed to harmful conduct through their online interactions with your organisation, and to know how to recognise, respond and report safeguarding concerns related to harmful conduct.

Harmful online conduct includes:

• Grooming – when a person contacts a child or adult at risk online to build a relationship and then harm, abuse or exploit them. (link to online grooming document)
• Coerced online child sexual abuse – children are groomed and coerced into taking indecent images or videos of themselves.
• Cyberbullying - bullying behaviours that take place online. (link to cyberbullying document).
• Catfishing – using a false identity online in order to deceive others.
• Sextortion / Sexually coerced extortion – a form of blackmail where the perpetrator threatens to share sexual images or videos of a person if they don’t meet certain demands e.g. money, sending further images. 
• Pile-on harassment - when a group organises to target an individual online with negative, aggressive or abusive messages.
• Offensive language. 
• Hate speech - communication that attacks or uses discriminatory language against a person or group based on a characteristic such as disability, age, sex, race, sexuality, religion or belief and gender identity. 
• Unwanted sexual contact.
• Cyberflashing - unsolicited nude images or videos.
• Inciting violence. 
• Spreading misinformation to manipulate. 
• Manipulating someone into giving personal information.
• Promoting self-harm, disordered eating and suicide.
• Setting children or adults at risk dangerous dares or challenges.

  What can organisations do? 

• Codes of conduct for workers should include online behaviours as appropriate.   
• Safeguarding training for workers that includes awareness of signs and indicators of online harms and how to report concerns. 
• Communicate expectations for all and to all e.g. not just codes of conduct for workers - also ground rules and group agreements for all online activities, telling people what they can expect from us. 
• Model safe behaviours in your own online conduct.  
• Equip children and adults at risk to speak out about harmful online conduct they have experienced. 
• Respond well to concerns about harmful online conduct.

How to report harmful online conduct:   

• Always tell your Safeguarding Lead   
• If you are a Safeguarding Lead, report to statutory agencies if a crime has been committed, a child or at-risk adult is at risk of harm, or a person in a Position of Trust engages in harmful online conduct  
• Online harm against children should be reported to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection)  
• Hate crime can be reported via local police forces or here: Report a hate crime to your local police 
• If somebody in a Position of Trust (within your organisation or outside it) engages in conduct that means they are unsafe to work with vulnerable groups, your Safeguarding Lead may need to refer them to the Barring Lists, held by the Disclosure and Barring Service (for England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or Disclosure Scotland (for Scotland).  
• If harmful conduct represents a serious incident / concern as set out by your Charity Regulator, your Safeguarding Trustee will need to report it to the Charity Regulator.