One of the vices that social networks have left us is the idea of sharing our lives through images or videos. What you probably don’t know is that those family party photos you posted on facebook could end up in the hands of a pedophile. A study by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) found that most of the material seized from the aggressors are everyday images of minors.
As reported Chain BE, 72% of the material that is in the hands of pedophiles are non-sexualized images of boys and girls. Attackers download content from family albums and other legitimate sources. Some parents often document their children’s lives without knowing that the content will end up on the computer of a child pornography addict.
“We have the idea that people who collect images of child sexual exploitation only collect very serious ones,” said Irene Montiel, professor of Law Studies and Political Science at the UOC. “But the reality is that non-sexualized images of boys and girls are present in the collections of dual offenders.” This class of aggressors are the most dangerous, since they sexually abuse minors.
The study mentions that 89% of families share their children’s content on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok once a month. With babies, the figure is alarming, since 81% are on the Internet before they are six months old. Parents who post photos of the ultrasound, birth or first steps not only violate the future digital identity of minors, but also put them at risk.
Social networks, allies of pedophiles
Although some social networks such as Facebook or YouTube claim to have mechanisms against pedophilia, they are not enough. In February 2019, a youtuber exposed that YouTube’s algorithm recommended videos of scantily clad minors. The content was visible to everyone and the comments section was full of nasty phrases or links to child pornography websites.
The company responded with a new rating system to identify and remove predatory comments. Similarly, YouTube disabled comments on most videos of minors that could attract bullies. Unfortunately, this measure was temporary and applied to a few content creators.
A few months ago, pinterest was in the eye of the hurricane after an investigation discovered that the social network is a paradise for pedophiles. the algorithm suggests photos of sexualized minors and allows comments from older men. The company responded by removing some profiles and boards, promising a feature to report sexually suggestive images.
The responsibility lies with the parents.
The automation of moderation systems on social networks has made it impossible to apply an effective system against pedophiles. While we could point to Mark Zuckerberg and other managers for this, the responsibility for minors lies with the parents. It is they who must define the guidelines on what content is shared on the platforms.
The data provided by the research of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya make it clear that bullies opt for everyday content. Photos from a visit to the museum or the park might seem normal to you or your family, but not to a pedophile who collects them on his computer’s hard drive. Before posting a picture of your children on social networks, consider the risk that exists.