Some children as young as five years of age have unlimited and unsupervised access to the internet, a major internal case review by the ISPCC has revealed.

The review also found that children and young people in Ireland are often viewing age inappropriate material online, including violent and pornographic content.

The data is based on an internal case review, carried out in July, of the different cyber issues affecting young people and their families that had been encountered by the children's charity in the previous 18 months.

It found that young people often show a lack of empathy when comments are posted online compared to if they were talking face-to-face with a person. Furthermore in some cases, children seemed to think that the purpose of social media was to insult and taunt others.

Many children, including some as young as five, reported having unlimited and unsupervised access to the internet and many were viewing inappropriate content.

The review also noted that staff throughout the ISPCC had extensive experience of working with young people who were highly stressed or anxious because of reputational damage from sexting.

Meanwhile among parents who called the charity for support, grooming was highlighted as a concern.

The review also highlighted the issue of ‘sextortion', which refers to a wide range of acts of sexual exploitation. This usually centres on a threat of public humiliation or an abuse of power and for young people, it can take the form of threats to release sexual images on social media sites as a means of intimidation.

"In some cases, young people are sometimes blackmailed for money, or asked to send further intimate pictures, or coerced into sexual acts in desperate attempts to stop a perpetrator from sending their personal images to others," the ISPCC said.

It added that a ‘pattern of confusion' is emerging among those who use ISPCC services.

"Children and young people feel unable to control inappropriate activities, they are unsure of where to turn to or how to address concerns and parents are particularly feeling ill-equipped to deal with issues of safety online."

Commenting on the review, ISPCC chief executive, Grainia Long, said there is now an urgent need for law reform in this area ‘to address the gaps in cybercrime legislation, to improve practice and to afford children greater protection online.

"Cyber safety is the child protection issue of our time. We are only beginning to understand the scale and nature of harm and criminal behaviour towards children online.

"Children are at risk from bullying, accessing inappropriate material and in the most egregious cases, from abuse. Law reform and a range of education measures are undoubtedly required," Ms Long said.

For more information on the ISPCC, click here