Games, chats and hidden calls: How children are being targeted online

Melissa* joined a tenants' association in Nairobi as a treasurer at a time when members were up in arms over allegations of misappropriation of funds.

"I came in hoping to change things and put the books in order, but I was very wrong," she said during a forum in Nairobi to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence that ended recently.

"My drive for transparency and accountability drew hostility. I was severely bullied and insulted on WhatsApp. The abuse even extended to my partner. I couldn't take it any longer. I resigned and later moved from the estate."

Another participant from Mathare narrated the violence that thrives in a political WhatsApp group for residents of the area.

"The DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) should look into that WhatsApp group. It's a hotspot of digital violence," she said.

Also read: The night shift: How gaming is stealing our children's childhood

While open platforms such as X, TikTok and Facebook are widely recognised as major spaces where digital violence occurs – violence enabled through technology via social media, phones, laptops,  or email – experts warn of invisible channels operating out of the public eye.

These include closed WhatsApp groups, vernacular-language online spaces, and online gaming platforms.

In response to the rising use of WhatsApp as an off-grid channel of abuse, technology experts are developing new tools to detect and prevent harm.

Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) has created lexicons in Swahili, Luo, Kikuyu, Teso, and Somali to help platforms detect harmful content, especially insults and threats delivered in vernacular languages.

KICTANet Chief Executive Officer Dr Grace Githaiga says they have shared these tools with Meta and TikTok to strengthen content moderation systems. The organisation also operates reporting platforms and WhatsApp groups that track cases of digital violence and generate quarterly reports used for policy advocacy.

Online gaming

When parents think of online danger, they imagine suspicious calls, alarming chats, or strangers on social media. But according to Lawrence Okoth, a detective at the DCI's Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit (Cyber Division), the real threat lies in places few adults ever look: online gaming platforms.

"That is where even the paedophiles, the perpetrators, are really seeing as a catching area," Okoth notes. He says they receive numerous referrals showing that children are being groomed, manipulated and violated on gaming apps.

What makes these platforms especially dangerous is their invisibility to parents. Predators do not use traditional phone calls. Nothing appears in the call log. No one shows up on WhatsApp.

Also read: Why sharing children’s photos in estate WhatsApp groups can get you in trouble

Instead, they embed themselves in games – chatting, sending voice notes and even making live calls – masquerading as helpful gamers guiding a child to "level up", Okoth explained.

"If you wait to hear a phone calling, you will never hear it," Okoth says. "If you wait to hear a child talking to someone on the phone, you will never. But if you check the games, you will see a lot of conversation."

Okoth urges parents to maintain open relationships with their children and ensure they can freely access the devices they bought for them. Yet many parents are locked out by layers of passwords and biometric security, sometimes set up by children themselves, he noted.

"A child whom you have given a phone need not to block you from accessing what they do online," he says. "It is still your responsibility to ensure they are safe on the internet."

While full surveillance is unrealistic, he says parents must remain alert to changes in behaviour, subtle warnings, and vague comments that may signal danger.

"If a child says someone is doing something bad and you don't take it seriously, you may never know what they mean," he advises.

Digital threats

He recommends limiting screen time, switching off the internet at night, and setting appropriate passwords and usage boundaries.

A growing concern, he says, is self-generated child sexual abuse material. Some children, out of curiosity or innocence, take photos of their developing bodies without understanding the risks. Once such images reach the wrong hands, they can be used to manipulate or blackmail the children.

The DCI Cyber Division conducts advocacy, research and public awareness campaigns to help families understand digital threats. However, even reaching out to parents is not always easy.

"At times we try to call some parents, but you can imagine the response," Okoth says. "People say, 'You are a con man.' They don't believe a police officer can call to advise on what is happening."

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