Nonprofit · 501(c)(3) · Est. 2018

Every conversation deserves a shield.

ChatShield is a nonprofit initiative protecting children, teens and vulnerable users from grooming, harassment and abuse in online chats, games and messengers — through education, advocacy and free safety tools.

Report Abuse · Get Help Learn More

🛡 Confidential reporting

🌍 24/7 in 14 languages

🆓 Always free

The Problem

Online chats are where harm hides.

Most digital abuse — grooming, sextortion, harassment — happens inside private messages, where parents, teachers and platforms rarely look.

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Grooming

Predators build trust over weeks or months across gaming chats, DMs and social platforms before causing harm. Patterns are predictable — and preventable.

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Sextortion

Coerced sharing of intimate images followed by blackmail. Reports involving minors have grown 7× in three years across major platforms.

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Harassment & Doxxing

Coordinated attacks, threats and exposure of personal information disproportionately target young people, women and marginalized groups.

What We Do

Education, advocacy, and free tools.

We meet families, schools and platforms where they are — with practical, evidence-based help.

Education

School & Family Programs

Free curricula, workshops and parent guides for ages 8–17. Used by 1,200+ schools across 14 countries, translated into 9 languages.

Helpline

24/7 Confidential Support

Speak to a trained counselor in 14 languages. Anonymous, never reported without consent (with statutory exceptions for imminent harm).

Research

Threat Intelligence

We track grooming and sextortion patterns across platforms and publish open research to inform policy, platforms and parents.

Advocacy

Policy & Platform Standards

We work with regulators in the EU, UK and US — and directly with platforms — to strengthen safety-by-design and reporting workflows.

Warning Signs

How to spot grooming behavior.

If you see any of these in a child's or teen's online conversations, don't panic — but don't ignore it. Document, talk, and contact us.

Download Full Guide (PDF)

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Excessive flattery and "specialness""You're so mature for your age." "I've never felt this connection before."
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Pressure to move to private channelsAsking to switch from a game chat to Telegram, Discord DMs, Snap or WhatsApp quickly.
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Secrecy from parents or friends"Don't tell anyone." "Your parents wouldn't understand."
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Gift offers or game currencySkins, V-Bucks, Roblox Robux, gift cards — common entry points for trust-building.
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Sexualized questions or contentEven framed as "jokes" or "tests" — any sexual conversation with a minor is a red flag.
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Threats after image sharing"If you don't send more, I'll send these to everyone." This is sextortion — and it is a crime.

Free Resources

Guides, toolkits and research — all free.

Everything we publish is open access. Cite it, share it, translate it. That's the point.

Parent Guide · PDF

The Online Safety Conversation

A 24-page, age-by-age script for the talks you've been putting off. Available in 9 languages.

Download free →

School Curriculum

ChatSafe Classroom (Ages 8–17)

12 lesson plans, slides and worksheets aligned to UNESCO digital citizenship standards. Used by 1,200+ schools.

Get the kit →

Research Report

Grooming Patterns 2024

Anonymized analysis of 14,000+ reports. Platform-by-platform breakdown of where harm starts and how it escalates.

Read the report →

For Teens · Web App

Is This Okay? Self-Check Tool

An anonymous, mobile-friendly chat-checker that flags risky conversation patterns. No login. No data stored.

Try the tool →

Platform Toolkit

Safety-by-Design Checklist

For product, trust & safety, and engineering teams. 47 concrete controls, mapped to EU DSA and UK OSA.

Download the checklist →

Workshop · Free

Monthly Webinar for Parents

Live, hosted by our counselors. Q&A, real cases, no judgment. First Tuesday of every month, 19:00 CET.

Meet the Team

Counselors, researchers, and engineers.

A small, multidisciplinary team based in Amsterdam, Berlin and Toronto — supported by a global network of volunteers.

Dr. Elena Vasquez

Executive Director

Former UNICEF child protection lead. Founded ChatShield in 2018.

Daniel Okafor

Head of Helpline

Licensed clinical psychologist, 12 years in crisis counseling.

Maya Tanaka

Director of Research

PhD, online safety & computational linguistics. Ex-Meta Trust & Safety.

Lukas Brandt

Head of Engineering

Builds our open-source detection toolkit and self-check web app.

From the People We Serve

Real impact, in their own words.

When my daughter showed me messages from someone she'd met in a game, I didn't know what to do. ChatShield's helpline walked us through reporting and supported her for weeks. They didn't make us feel stupid for not catching it sooner.

Marta R., parentMadrid, Spain

The ChatSafe classroom curriculum is the first online safety material my Year 9 students have actually engaged with. It treats them like intelligent humans, not future victims.

James W., teacherManchester, UK

I was being blackmailed and I thought my life was over. The counselor told me it wasn't my fault and what to do next. I'm okay now. Thank you.

Anonymous, age 16Helpline user

We rebuilt our DM safety stack using ChatShield's safety-by-design checklist. Their research is rigorous, their team is generous, and the work speaks for itself.

Priya N., Trust & Safety LeadMid-size social platform

Frequently Asked

Questions we hear most often.

Yes. You don't have to share your name, phone number or email. The only situation where we contact authorities without consent is when there is imminent risk to life — and we always explain this up front. Read our full confidentiality policy.

Anyone — children, teens, parents, teachers, social workers, or platform staff. We serve people in 42 countries, in 14 languages, 24 hours a day.

Yes. The helpline, the curricula, the parent guides, the research — all free. We are a registered nonprofit funded by individual donors, foundations and a small number of carefully vetted institutional grants. We do not accept funding from social platforms whose practices we audit.

Three ways: donate (monthly gifts of any size keep the helpline open), share our resources with schools and parent groups, or volunteer — we train counselors, translators, and researchers throughout the year.

Only when a user explicitly consents to a report being escalated, or in narrow legal exceptions involving imminent harm to a child. We are not an enforcement agency — we are an advocacy and support organization.

Get Help · Get in Touch

You don't have to figure this out alone.

How to reach us.

If you or someone you know is being harmed online, reach out. Everything below is confidential and free.

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24/7 Helpline (free)+1 (800) 555-HELP · EU: +31 20 794 1425
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Confidential emailhelp@chatshield.org (replies within 4h)
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Registered officeKeizersgracht 391-A
1016 EJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
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North America office250 Yonge Street, Suite 2200
Toronto, ON M5B 2L7, Canada
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Press & mediapress@chatshield.org
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Partnerships & schoolspartners@chatshield.org

⚠ If someone is in immediate danger Call your local emergency number first (911 in US/CA · 112 in EU · 999 in UK). Then contact us — we can help with what comes next.

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