NEW research by the NSPCC has found that social media platforms are failing to protect girls in the Midlands from harm.
The children's charity's study revealed that girls are vulnerable to grooming, abuse, and harassment on even the most popular platforms.
This comes as a YouGov survey of 3,593 adults across Great Britain, including 584 from the Midlands, found that 86 per cent of adults across Great Britain and 88 per cent in the Midlands believe tech companies are not doing enough to protect girls from harm on social media.
The NSPCC commissioned PA Consulting to conduct a report, Targeting of Girls Online, which identified a wide range of risks girls face across 10 popular online platforms, including grooming, harassment and abuse.
As part of the research, fake profiles of a teenage girl were created on these sites.
The report found that the detailed nature of the profiles made it too easy for adult strangers to pick out girls and send unsolicited messages to their accounts.
The NSPCC is calling on tech companies to rethink how social media platforms are designed and prioritise creating age-appropriate experiences for young girls online.
Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online, said: "Parents are absolutely right to be concerned about the risks their daughters' are being exposed to online, with this research making it crystal clear that tech companies are not doing nearly enough to create age-appropriate experiences for girls.
"We know both on and offline girls face disproportionate risks of harassment, sexual abuse, and exploitation.
"That's why it's so worrying that these platforms are fundamentally unsafe by design - employing features and dark patterns that are putting girls in potentially dangerous situations.
"There needs to be a complete overhaul of how these platforms are built.
"This requires tech companies and Ofcom to step up and address how poor design can lead to unsafe spaces for girls."
The NSPCC has long heard from young girls about their negative experiences online through Childline which encouraged them to undertake this research.
One 15-year-old who contacted Childline said: "I've been sent lots of inappropriate images online recently, like pictures of naked people that I don't want to see."