Someturva Annual Report 2025:Evolving Forms of Cybercrime and AI
Someturva has been operating for nine years, increasing safety on social media. The content of the 2025 report is best characterized by the increased role of AI in crimes experienced by schoolchildren, as well as sophisticated and widespread forms of cybercrime, such as various types of extortion.
The amendment to the Basic Education Act to restrict mobile devices in schools, which came into effect in August 2025, significantly changed the working and studying environment in schools. Contrary to our expectations and in light of our statistics, it appeared that the need for help in school-related social media crimes or situations did not significantly decrease.
Suvi Uski
CEO
Age distribution of help requests from children and young people
Harmful online phenomena affect children and young people of all ages
Statistics compiled from Someturva cases show that harmful online phenomena target children and young people of all ages. In 2025, the median age of help seekers was 13, but the youngest seekers were only 6 years old. We also receive many requests for help from primary school-aged children.
The age limit for many apps is currently 13 years. However, Someturva's case statistics show that in reality, many apps, such as Snapchat and TikTok, are also used by children younger than the age limit. In 2025, 49% of the help requests received by Someturva came from children under 13 years of age. When children begin to use digital devices and social media independently, rapid support and help must be easily available.
Crime types and challenges vary by application
App-specific usage cultures, technical features, and algorithms create environments where threats manifest in different ways. Our expert team specializing in online harassment continuously monitors these developments to ensure effective and rapid help regardless of the application.
Most common apps in cases in 2025
Click the icons to explore the challenges and risks of the apps.
The majority of cases involve a criminal offence or a risk of crime
In 2025, Someturva's experts helped children, young people, and adults in 767 cases. Based on our expert assessment, 72% of the cases met the criteria for a criminal offence or posed a risk of a crime. This proportion is alarmingly high. At the same time, it must be noted that mere criminal assessment does not necessarily tell the whole truth about the severity of a case. Our experts helped in approximately 28% of cases where we assessed there was no risk of a crime, but where immediate expert help and rapid intervention were needed in other ways because the situation was, for example, psychologically acute.
Crimes faced by children are increasingly serious
Someturva's first-aid unit experts handle complex crime cases daily, the most common of which are sexual offences against children, defamations, and illegal threats. Our expertise in online crimes is needed so that the help seeker's legal protection can be realized and the situations can be brought to an end.
Our statistics show that the nature of the most common crimes changes according to the age of the help seeker. The youngest users are of particular concern. In 2025, 59% of crime cases involving primary school-aged children (7–12 years) were sexual offences against children. This information is concerning, but it helps target our preventive work where the risk for serious crimes is highest.
Most common criminal offences in crime cases in 2025
Hover over the criminal offences for more information.
- Sexual offences against children51 %
- Defamation40 %
- Illegal threat16 %
% indicates how large a proportion of crime cases the specific title applied to. One case may have involved several different criminal offences.
The number of extortion crimes has grown: Sextortion and The Com network
In 2025, we observed a significant increase in extortion crimes: the share of extortion and attempted extortion in our crime cases grew considerably from 2024 (2%) to 2025 (12%). In particular, the phenomenon also referred to as sextortion intensified alarmingly. This refers to a form of crime where the perpetrator blackmails the target with intimate imagery to obtain money, more images, or other benefits. Additionally, cases have shown a brutal phenomenon reported by the police in late 2025: The Com network. The network blackmails its victims into producing violent content directed at themselves or others for the network's use.
In crime cases related to extortion and attempted extortion, 71% of children and young people had not told a single adult about the situation before contacting Someturva. This share is clearly higher than in our cases on average (37%). Intense shame and intimidation related to the situations, such as the spreading of intimate imagery, prevent young people from turning to a familiar adult, highlighting the importance of anonymous and timely help. Extortion situations are often acute, high-pressure, and fast-moving. In such cases, it is important that children and young people receive help with a low threshold so that the situation does not escalate or progress in a harmful direction.
*Share of those children and young people who reported that the situation affected their mental well-being. A respondent may have reported several different impacts.
Cases have significant impacts on student well-being
Harassment and bullying occurring on social media affect children's and young people's psychological well-being and ability to cope in daily life in many ways. It is particularly concerning that challenging online situations erode a young person's self-esteem and control over daily life. Help seekers often tell us about sleeping difficulties and feelings of humiliation, and as many as a fifth reported that the situation caused self-harming symptoms. The initial psychosocial support offered by Someturva's experts is critical in these moments. Our professionals help strengthen the young person's own resources and obtain suitable follow-up support for their well-being.
Click the example cases for more information.
AI and evolving cybercrime
A phenomenon that was visible in the 2025 help requests was artificial intelligence. During the year, our first-aid unit helped children, young people, and adults for whom images or videos had been created using AI applications against their will. Because current AI applications create very realistic-looking images and videos, they are often referred to as deepfakes. In help requests, AI had been used, for example, to create fake nude photos or derogatory videos.
AI applications are now easily accessible to everyone and can be used to create almost anything, such as images, videos, and audio files. AI tools available to everyone are shaping what bullying, harassment, and the crimes faced by children and young people look like. A deepfake nude photo created of someone else may be used to extort money or offend another student or school staff member. AI applications also provide new opportunities for disparaging others, as existing photos and videos of a person can be edited so that the person says different things, does different things, or looks different than in the original content.
Phone bans calm down lessons but do not eliminate bullying
The updated Basic Education Act from August 2025 prohibits students from using mobile devices during lessons. Tightened phone restrictions in educational institutions are a welcome step toward a calmer learning environment. However, children and young people still spend a lot of time on their devices, and situations occurring during leisure time often affect everyday school life. When children's and young people's social relationships are on their phones, social challenges such as bullying cannot be separated between the school day and free time.
After the legislative change, no major nationwide changes were observed in the first-aid unit during the first six months. The most significant change is seen in the timing of help requests: harassment and online challenges still follow young people, but help requests are now sent especially during lunch breaks and in the evenings from home. Contrary to our expectations, help requests for situations where a student's images or videos have been used without permission have not decreased following the restrictions.
The perpetrator is often known from school
In 2025, in approximately 62% of our cases, the help seeker either knew the perpetrator or there was a strong suspicion of who they were. In the majority of these situations, the perpetrator is often a person already known to the victim from the same school, such as a classmate. In 2025, the share remained at 59 percent both in the spring semester before the school phone bans and after they came into effect in the autumn semester. The phenomenon affects the entire school community: when looking specifically at help requests from school staff regarding situations involving themselves, in 86 percent of cases, the perpetrator is either a student at the school, a colleague, or a student's guardian. Educational institutions now have an immediate need to find ways to strengthen and monitor digital safety in the era of phone bans.
Expert support as part of occupational safety in schools
Problems from the online world inevitably spill over into everyday school life and affect the well-being of the entire staff. Although school phone bans protect students during lessons, they do not eliminate digital harassment targeted at teachers or social media-related stress. According to an OAJ survey, six out of ten teachers feel that criminal reports are made against them more easily than before, and over half of primary school teachers are concerned about being threatened with legal action.(OAJ member survey 2026, STT)
Someturva's expert support has become a central part of occupational safety in schools. In 2025, 69% of help requests from staff concerned a student's situation, but in approximately 31% of cases, a staff member requested help for their own situation.
The clear operating instructions and expert help we provide support the well-being and safety of school staff. By reducing the burden on professionals and answering difficult legal questions, we ensure that school remains a safe place to both learn and work.
Solutions for the most difficult situations online
Every number in our report represents a real child, young person, or adult whose distress requires a quick response, but at the same time a calm and professional encounter. Resolving a single case requires extensive legal, psychological, and technical expertise from our specialists, as well as close cooperation with authorities, schools, and online platforms. In 2025, 90% of help seekers received assistance within 24 hours. The operating models we have created guarantee that even the most difficult cases can be resolved and the help seeker receives the peace of mind they need despite the challenges of the situation.
Someturva's measurable impact
We offer high-quality support quickly, relying on our efficient practices and multi-professional expertise. Despite the emotionally taxing nature of these cases for help seekers, we maintained a high average rating of 4.1/5 in our 2025 quick feedback. Approximately 94% of those who gave written feedback said that the help had a positive impact on the situation. High customer satisfaction speaks to the quality and significance of Someturva's expert help in the middle of difficult moments.
Situations often have a very heavy impact on the psychological well-being of help seekers, but as many as 73% of those who gave feedback said their well-being and ability to cope improved with Someturva's help. The core of our work is to restore peace of mind and a sense of control for the help seeker in the middle of what has happened.
The response was very helpful. I got exactly the legal information I needed for discussions with students.
Thanks for the help, I filed a police report :)
Our anonymous service reaches those in the most vulnerable positions
The opportunity to ask for help anonymously is significant for many help seekers. In the 2025 cases, 37% of help seekers had not told an adult about the matter before Someturva. These proportions also vary according to the nature of the case. The importance of anonymous help is emphasized especially in cases involving sexual offences against children: in these situations, in 53% of cases reported by children, the Someturva expert was the first adult the child told about the situation.
Over half (57%) of children and young people had told an adult about their situation but still needed our expert help. This shows that online problem situations are often so complex that support provided by a child's or young person's social circle may not be sufficient to resolve them. Even after making a police report, situations require legal, technical, and psychological expertise, without which the support received by the child or young person may remain incomplete.
We help our users remove illegal material from the internet
We have the trusted flagger status granted by Traficom and in accordance with the EU Digital Services Act. Trusted flaggers assist in the removal of illegal content. When we make a report of illegal content to an application, it must by law be processed as a priority and without delay. This means our experts have a concrete and effective tool to help seekers get offensive content off the internet. Status can be granted to entities that have the specific expertise and competence required to detect illegal content and carry out the task.
In 2025, we made a total of 179 removal requests for illegal content. Our users can trust that we have the necessary expertise and official mandate to intervene in situations in a timely and rapid manner. This reduces other harms and damages caused by illegal content in the help seeker's life.
How we help: the help seeker's journey
When a digital crisis strikes, a child or young person is at a crossroads. This path illustrates how Someturva's first-aid unit expert support works and what happens if a young person is left without professional help.
Click the steps of the path to see what happens at each point.
Year 2025: Investing in prevention and developing new features
In 2025, we invested even more strongly in problem prevention by offering tools before crises arise. Our application now has a new interactive section that involves children and young people in reflecting on safety skills in an age-appropriate way, either during lessons or independently. Additionally, we developed more new lesson materials to make it easy to bring up even difficult topics in an age-appropriate manner. According to a user survey of secondary education students we conducted in 2024, 82% of students found Someturva's lessons useful.
A significant step in facilitating support was the launch of a hotline service directed at school management. The new phone service allows for the reporting of cases to our experts with an even lower threshold. Feedback received about the service has been exceptionally positive, and it has strengthened our partnership with school management.
Data-driven management and the Someturva Index strengthen organizational preparedness
We offer organizational management a clear view of the community's digital security status. We report not only on the phenomena that have occurred but also on how actively staff and members utilize our preventive materials. This information enables precise resource allocation and supports the development of the organization's safety culture.
The Someturva Index is a new metric used specifically to measure the level of bullying and harassment prevention in an organization. With the index, management can monitor the development of preparedness levels and ensure that the organization has the necessary capabilities to effectively manage digital risks and protect its members.
Someturva expanded to Sweden, strengthening Nordic security
Someturva expanded to Sweden in 2025. During the year, we have brought our expertise into the everyday life of Swedish schools, and also more broadly raised themes related to children's and young people's safe digital daily lives as part of social discussion. Click the sections of the adjacent map to read more about Someturva's work in Sweden.
Click the sections for more information
Is your organization ready for modern digital challenges?
New online phenomena, such as harassment targeted at students and employees, AI-implemented identity thefts, and reputation risks, require new kinds of preparedness from schools, companies, and other organizations. Someturva's experts are professionals in resolving problems occurring online—such as bullying and harassment situations.
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