Katie Piper has revealed her daughter was approached by a stranger in-personating a child on a video game.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Katie, 40, said she is now concerned for her daughters safety after she was playing an online game when another player, with a famous child YouTuber’s name, congratulated her score.
They started chatting, but it turned out to be an adult trying to engage with her.
She said: ‘My daughter is ten and she likes doing online gaming and in my work I use lots of social media platforms so I thought I was quite savvy in advising her on what platforms to use and not use.
‘We have a family device that she is using under my supervision. She was on the online game and it has a chatbot feature, that I thought I had disabled.
Katie Piper has revealed her daughter was approached by a stranger in-personating a child on a video game (pictured in May)
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Katie, 40, said she is now concerned for her daughters safety after she was playing an online game when another player, with a famous child YouTuber’s name, congratulated her score (pictured with her two daughters)
‘But somebody was able to congratulate her on the score she had got in this particular game. And that then led to them being able to talk.
‘The person was using a username of a famous YouTuber and she got really excited thinking she was talking to them. And as the conversation carried on, she realised she was talking to an adult.’
Katie continued: ‘The positive thing was she came to me and said she had done something she shouldn’t have by using the chatbox.
‘So I was very glad she came to me and we could talk about it. And I didn’t tell her off, just made sure we spoke about it.’
The mum of two shares two daughters with husband Richard James Sutton who she’s been married to since 2015.
Katie said she now struggles to find a balance between letting her daughter have access to social media and often feels ‘mum guilt’.
‘I panicked and especially as mums, we always get this mum guilt and I thought oh no, have I done something wrong and not protected her online,’ she said.
‘But actually, I don’t think I could have done anything differently and it made me realsie it’s something that moves really fast and I need to stay abreast of technology and the games and the stuff that she’s doing.
The mum of two shares two daughters with husband Richard James Sutton who she’s been married to since 2015 (pictured
Katie said she now struggles to find a balance between letting her daughter have access to social media and often feels ‘mum guilt’
‘Any area is parenting, completely restricting any child doesn’t work. So I don’t want to cut her off from the modern world because there are different platforms that can be hugely positive.
‘With helps to flourish careers, socialise and educate and broaden horizons.
‘I at school in the 90s so basically doing my homework on a typewriter, so I am learning with my ten-year-old.
‘If I have ever had to deal with negativity online, it’s been as an adult when I have the resilience and emotional intelligence to be able to cope with it.
Now a model and activist, Katie has 1.1 million Instagram followers. But she said she continues not to share photos of her daughters until they can consent themselves.
‘I started my Instagram before they were born and I’ve always tried to commit to not photo-shopping or editing,’ she said.
‘I do share my personal life on there and when the kids were born I shared a photo of them as a baby to say, I’ve had my children. But it never felt necessary or right to share them online.
‘It will change when they are 16 or 17, they will then put themselves online and I wouldn’t stop. She can then consent to me doing it too.
Now a model and activist, Katie has 1.1 million Instagram followers. But she said she continues not to share photos of her daughters until they can consent themselves
‘I don’t think there is anything wrong with people putting their kids online, just different things work for different families.’
Katie’s comments come as new research from Virgin Media O2 and Internet Matters Reveal Parents’ Fear of AI & Deepfake Threat to Kids.
Up to 75 per cent of UK parents and guardians fear dangers AI-generated deepfake audio and video pose to their children online1.
Yet less than half of people, 42 per cent, have spoken to their kids about online safety and just over a quarter, 26 per cent, are unconfident when it comes to their ability to protect their children from deepfakes.
Campaign backed by leading charities Action for Children and Good Things Foundation, with brand new guides to help families have more confident conversations about using the internet safely.
