How easy it is for young people to report cyber crimes?

The recent death of County Tyrone teenager Ronan Hughes after a gang blackmailed him over intimate photographs has highlighted the dangers for young people who use social media.

As part of a cyber security series, BBC News NI has been looking at how easy it is for young people to report cyber crimes.

The main piece of advice for anyone worried is to speak to an adult they trust - a parent, guardian, teacher, or ring Childline on 0800 1111.

But what if you don't feel able to speak to anyone?

Just how easy is it for a frightened or concerned teenager to seek help online?

Many agencies, including the police & Childline, recommend reporting abuse on the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) website.

Our reporter Andy West asked 14-year-old Ciara from Belfast to pretend she had shared something online and was worried about it because she was being harassed

They often direct young people to a website called thinkuknow which has a button that directs them to the CEOP website.

So how easy is the site to use and is it child friendly?

We asked 14-year-old Ciara from Belfast to 'road test' the site for us.

We asked her to pretend she had shared something online and was worried about it because she was being harassed.

Of course, her experience is only the response of one teenager.

We asked Ciara to show us how she would go about looking for help online, but we did not direct her further.

After about five minutes of searching, we asked Ciara whether she had heard of the thinkuknow website.

She remembered she had heard of it before and had seen some leaflets in school.

Ciara thought she might have eventually found and recognised the website if it had come up in a search.

From thinkuknow, it took Ciara some time to find the CEOP site.

And once she got there, the teenager said she felt she was asked for too much information up front.

"It's asking me where I am, my school and my house and road name and my town and city and my postcode," Ciara said.

Ciara was uncomfortable with sharing her email and phone number on the CEOP site

"You don't really know who's doing this, you'd be a bit freaked out by someone you don't know who's hassling you about social media. And then another person who is asking more questions you don't know about would maybe mess with your head."

'Too personal'

The teenager was then asked for her email address, home and mobile number.

"I just find it a bit too personal to be giving away before you even know what you're going to get at the end of it," she said.

When asked if she thought she would complete the online form if this was a real scenario, she said: "No, I think I'd leave it there and go off the website, just because it's asking me so much, you can see there's about four more things.

"I think that just in that scenario I'd be too flustered into wanting to get somewhere quick and it's just taking too much time."

In response, a National Crime Agency spokesperson said: "The NCA (National Crime Agency) CEOP website provides young people and adults with the opportunity to report concerns and raise awareness.

A NCA spokesperson said it had not been made aware of any difficulties around using the CEOP site

"It is important to us that the site is intuitive and easy to use.

"We have not previously been made aware of any difficulties around access to this site however, we encourage feedback and if improvements can be made we make them.

The spokesperson said the site had been tested on young people when it was launched and the NCA had taken account of the feedback they provided.

"The reality is that the reporting form is there to report a crime and therefore we have to capture certain data about that. We try to do it in as simple and user friendly way as possible," the spokesperson added.

Jim Gamble, a former head of CEOP, said the website had been built to be the "one-stop shop", but it had become "far too cumbersome" and asked "far too many questions".

He said it was important that children, young people and parents knew where to go.

Mr Gamble said as well as the CEOP site, there were a number of others, where young people could report online abuse, which could lead to confusion.

When contacted by BBC News NI, the PSNI said any young person who was concerned about cyber crime should contact police or visit the CEOP website.