Live Streaming
Also known as:
- streaming
What is Risk ?
Digital risk factors associated with their interests and activities
Live streams can be public or private. Public live streams can attract thousands of audience members.
Many live streaming platforms let viewers comment, react with emojis or donate gifts to the person streaming.
Popular streaming platforms include:
- TikTok
- Twitch
- OnlyFans
Popular genres of live streams include:
- gaming
- sports and esports
- conversations and chatting
- viral challenges and trends
Live streams are sometimes unedited, uncensored and unmoderated by streaming platforms.
Where this can happen
Risks and motivations
Risks
Inappropriate and upsetting content
Children and young people watching live streams might see inappropriate or upsetting content without warning.
This could involve offensive language, adult humour, and violent or sexual behaviour.
Dangerous behaviour
Someone live streaming might feel pressured to attract or retain viewers. This could lead to a young person saying something extreme or offensive, or taking part in dangerous online challenges.
Offensive comments can lead to a young person being banned from a platform. They might also get in trouble offline if inappropriate behaviour is reported, for example, to the school they attend.
Dangerous online challenges can result in physical harm. For example, the Tide Pod challenge, where children and young people posted videos of them eating detergent pods.
Sharing personal information
Someone live streaming might share personal information with their viewers. This might be accidentally, or because they feel overconfident.
Risky information a child or young person might share includes:
- home address
- real-time location, for example, in the park
- the school or college they attend
- personally identifying information such as date of birth or pet names
It is hard to know who has seen or saved personal information that has been shared. It can also lead to unwanted contact.
Pressure to spend
Live streams can offer options to donate cash gifts to the person streaming. For example, virtual coins which cost a small amount of real money.
For popular streams, this can be in exchange for personalised shoutouts or bespoke requests.
If a child or young person wants to get recognition during a stream they might feel pressure to spend money. They might also feel pressured to buy products an influencer promotes or advertises during a live stream.
Loot boxes and gambling
Unboxing live streams focus on someone opening loot boxes within a video game These can be bought in online games and contain randomised prizes.
Research has found evidence to suggest links between buying loot boxes and gambling-like behaviours (opens in a PDF).
Bullying
The comments section on a live stream is sometimes unmoderated and uncensored. Upsetting messages can be posted and bullying can take place, especially when live streams are open to the public.
Bullying and cyberbullying can have severe negative effects on a child or young person. They might feel anxious, depressed, or develop trust issues with others.
Motivations
Reasons a child or young person might watch live streams include:
- for fun
- to learn
- to follow a favourite influencer or brand
- to be part of a community
- because their friends do
- to meet other people
Reasons someone might create a live stream include to:
- have fun
- express themselves
- get attention
- try a viral trend
- show off skills or interests
- interact with an audience
- make money
Young people’s voice
Oscar had experienced conflict on social media through ‘live streams’ on Instagram. A boy in his year repeatedly live-streamed insults and abusive comments about Oscar and his friends. He would ‘invite’ Oscar into the live stream video, so that he and Oscar would be live-streamed side-by-side in a split screen format, and continue to insult him. Oscar would try to defend himself during these live streams, but felt it was unfair of the boy to bring him into these live arguments without warning.
It was live videos on Instagram. He would say stuff about us and so we’d go in and try and say that it’s not true.
15-year-old
Children's media lives, OFCOM, 2023
What you can do
You might be working with a child or young person who is interested in creating their own live stream.
Live streaming can have many positive aspects and can be done safely. Looking at the age rating a platform has is one way to assess how appropriate it might be for a child or young person.
It can be helpful to talk to a child or young person about some of the risks, as well as practical ways to stay safer. Your discussion could include:
- why they live stream, or want to live stream
- what information is not safe or appropriate to share. This includes personally identifying information that can be revealed from the background of their video stream, or from what they are wearing, for example, a school uniform
- the age rating of the platforms they will use
- the safety and privacy settings of the platform they will use
- not to act impulsively or dangerously for audiences
- not to say or do anything they feel uncomfortable or unsure about
- why it’s important to be respectful to others online
- to speak to an adult they trust if something worries or upsets them
If you think that a young person is at risk, follow your safeguarding procedure and read our safeguarding guidance.
Support
You may be working with a child or young person who has had a negative or harmful experience when watching or creating a live stream. Each child or young person’s recovery process will be different.
If they have encountered bullying, harassment or inappropriate content, it can be helpful to assess reporting and blocking functions on the platforms they use.
You may wish to look at how to report to social media platforms, or a specific safety tool, for example, Twitch’s Shield Mode.
- A guide to live streaming (Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)) – Website
- Bullying and cyberbullying (NSPCC) – Website
- Pressure to spend (Parent Zone) – File
- Spending money online (Internet Matters) – Website
- Worried your child has shared too much online? (Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)) – Website
Read more about live streaming
Share your experience of live streaming
You can tell us about:
- other terms you might have heard
- conversations you’ve had with young people
- a related platform or app
- another related risk or harm