Data released today demonstrates that children with additional needs experience the internet at its extremes. At its best, it offers socialisation, support and a space to feel seen and heard. At its worst, it exposes children to online harm they should not be expected to encounter.

Key findings from the report found that children with additional needs: 

• Are exposed to more harm online. 79% of children with additional needs have experienced harm online, significantly higher than their peers (63%). This includes being exposed to violent content (27%), requests for private information (28%) or being contacted by strangers (33%). 
• Spend a significant amount of time online. Children spend on average 26 hours online per week, engaging with a variety of activities including livestreaming themselves, creating content or using online forums or chat rooms. 
• Time online can leave children feeling isolated and insecure. Children with additional needs are almost twice as likely to experience upsetting interactions with others online and more likely to worry about what people think of them. 
• Are less likely than their peers to regulate time online, impacting their physical health. 42% of children with additional needs say spending a lot of time online makes them tired or unable to concentrate, compared to 23% of their peers. Half of parents of children with additional needs say their child has stopped doing sports or exercise because they’re too busy on their device. 
• Repeatedly watch the same content. A third of children with additional needs say they keep watching the same things even when not enjoying it and that they scroll through the same content on social media because they have run out of things to see. 

Today, we published a new report, Every Child Safe Online: supporting children with additional needs. 

The report shines a light on the digital lives of children with additional needs, revealing both the opportunities and risks they face online. It explores how online platforms can empower, yet also expose children to harm, emotional strain and ongoing challenges around screen time.

The additional needs landscape in the UK 

Over two million children in the UK have an additional need – which Internet Matters defines as children who have special educational needs support, who have an EHCP, or who have a mental/physical disability that requires professional support. It does not include those without a formal diagnosis.   

This figure equates to one in five children and within a school setting, six children in a class of 30. And this number continues to rise. 

The online experiences of these children are different to from those of their peers with many gravitating towards more interactive spaces such as playing games online, chat forums and livestreams – environments which are typically less regulated. Data shows that children with additional needs are more exposed to harms such as exposure to violent content, being contacted by strangers, online bullying and abusive comments.

Children with additional needs spend more time online and may experience online spaces more intensely, misread social cues, struggle with emotional regulation, and be more trusting, compliant, or anxious. Highlighting the online experiences of children with additional needs has been a core part of Internet Matters’ work for many years, but these findings make it clear that much more remains to be done.

For this report, Internet Matters surveyed 1,270 UK children aged between 9 and 16 and their parents in September and October 2025 as part of its annual Digital Wellbeing Index, published in full last month. 

The findings include:

Exposure to harm

Children with additional needs are more likely than their peers to: 

• See violent content (27% cf. 21%) 
• Be contacted by strangers (33% cf. 25%)  
• Be bullied by people they know in real life (26% cf. 12%) and people they don’t know (28% cf. 15%)  
• Do something dangerous due to content they’ve seen online (18% cf. 5%)  
• Have their personal information requested from them (28% cf. 16%) 

Addictive design 

• Children with additional needs keep playing the same games or watching the same TV shows/films even when they’re not enjoying it (34% cf. 21%)  
• Children with additional needs say they don’t feel like they can control how much time they spend online (36% cf. 27%) 

Balancing the positives 

• 64% of children with additional needs report that being online offers friendship and support, compared to 56% of their peers.   
• Three in four (76%) children with additional needs use the internet to learn new sports or physical skills (cf. 66% of their peers)  
• Two thirds (66%) of children with additional needs say that the time they spend online makes them happy – with just 8% disagreeing. 

Rachel Huggins, CEO at Internet Matters says, “Our report comes at a critical moment, as the UK debates children’s access to digital spaces and conversations grow around children’s experiences online and how best to support those with additional needs.  

“We welcomed the commitment outlined in the King’s Speech that ‘every child deserves the chance to succeed to their best ability and not be held back due to special educational needs.’ 

“Now it’s time to turn words into action. The Government must deliver on its Schools White Paper and ensure children with additional needs have equal opportunities to thrive, including in their digital lives.” 

Recommendations to Government

Online spaces play a vital role in the wellbeing of children with additional needs, and it is critical to mitigate the risks they are exposed to through: 

• Monitoring the efficacy of existing legislation, including the Online Safety Act. Government must consider whether all children are being adequately protected and if platforms are taking the steps that are required to safeguard children.  
• A risk-based approach to regulating platforms. Children’s access to online spaces should be determined by the level of risk a platform or service presents, and the effectiveness of the safeguards it provides – especially for those children with additional needs. 
• Mandating robust age assurance. Highly effective age assurance should be used to accurately establish users’ ages, allowing services to tailor age-appropriate experiences and to enforce age requirements. This is particularly important for children with additional needs, whose developmental age may be lower than their biological age. 
• Tailoring support for parents of children with additional needs in the Government’s online safety parent hub. This should include advice relating to the harms children with additional needs are exposed to.  
• Supporting schools to deliver high-quality media and digital literacy education to all children, including those with additional needs. Including guidance for schools on what elements of media and digital literacy to teach and where, access to high-quality resources and training for teachers. 

Supporting parents 

Alongside calls to Government, Internet Matters has created an online hub for parents and carers of children with additional needs where they can access tailored resources, simple guidance and practical advice on how best to support their child online.