The ACCCE has urged parents and guardians to discuss online safety with their children after revealing how often they are notified of sexually explicit content that children upload online without outside influence. Source: Pxfuel
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) has urged parents to discuss online safety, and supervise their children’s online habits after revealing the volume of sexually explicit content produced and posted online by children with no adult criminality involved.
According to ACCCE Commander Helen Schneider, the ACCCE receives an average of five to 10 reports a week regarding children as young as five, filming or photographing themselves naked. The content is occasionally displaying sexually explicit behaviour, and is posted online with no adult or criminal influence.
Reports of these incidences increased by up to 20 per cent during school holidays, when children were spending more time online.
“In multiple cases, children filmed and uploaded videos of themselves naked by accident and they have done this from a parent’s phone or computer left unattended,” Commander Schneider said.
“It is important parents lock shared devices and supervise their children while they are online.
“While these images are also often taken and shared unintentionally by minors, the flow-on effects can be damaging with content reaching the hands of child sex offenders.
“Offenders often visit popular social media platforms looking for self-produced content and share it with other offenders, or may even try to contact the child to groom them to create more extreme content.
“Children must be reminded about what content is appropriate to share online, and to always seek help from a trusted adult if something makes them feel unsafe.”
AFP child protection investigators have conducted welfare checks on multiple families across Australia, regarding the concerning content by self-generated by their children.
The AFP is typically notified of these cases after they are identified by social media platforms and reported to the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Often parents do not know what their child has done – the only warning may be a social media account being shut down — and the child isn’t aware of the implications,” said Commander Schneider.
“We also urge parents to remind their children never to share any personal information online with people they have never met and trust in person.
“Parents, caregivers and the community are the first line of defence when it comes to protecting children.
“Supervision is critical to prevent an incident happening, and ensures adults can take immediate action if their child needs help. Meanwhile, the AFP and law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to identify and prosecute those preying on children.”
The AFP runs the ThinkUKnow program, which has a range of resources regarding online safety for families and children. These can be found via ThinkUKnow.org.au/resources.
