Pictures of children shared by family members online unknowingly feed predators with exclusive content. Photo: Mark Zammit CordinaPictures of children shared by family members online unknowingly feed predators with exclusive content. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Parents are being warned not to upload pictures of their children in scanty clothing to social media, as online sexual predators increasingly target children aged between seven and 10.

The disturbing trend emerges from reports about websites depicting sexual images of children and other forms of online child abuse submitted to Aġenzija Appoġġ through its ChildWebAlert online reporting system this year.

“Sometimes the images were produced by the children themselves, but sometimes they were produced and published online by their parents or guardians,” a spokeswoman for the agency told The Sunday Times of Malta.

Pictures of children shared by family members online unknowingly feed predators with exclusive content.

“There is a huge demand for content which is exclusive, meaning that the children are ‘new victims’.

“Our awareness campaigns always aim to inform parents and carers about the proper use of social media and what kind of photos they upload online, especially photos of their children in underwear and swimsuits, or sometimes naked.

“These photos can easily end up on a website containing images of children in erotic poses, where the ultimate aim is to satisfy the fantasy of the paedophile.”

The agency has also observed that when it comes to such content, predators are mostly looking for children aged between seven and 10.


40

– The number of Maltese child victims over whom action was taken this year.


“The most requested images and videos are those of prepubescent children between the ages of seven and 10 years,” the agency spokeswoman said.

So far this year, a total of 207 reports have been submitted to Appoġġ through the online reporting system run by the agency. Action has so far been taken against 74 of the cases – 40 of which involve Maltese children.

The number of reports is the highest in the five years that the system has been in operation. Last year, 204 reports were flagged through the system.

A lot of the reports involving Maltese children also include a “considerable number of sexting cases” – where minors, mainly between the ages of 11 and 16, are seen posing erotically. This comes from a relatively new trend in which they take nude selfies and then share them with friends – and then the photos end up being used abusively online.

The children involved tend to use social media a lot and spend most of their time online, the spokeswoman added.

She said sexual images of children are a form of abuse or“exploitation and should never be described as “pornography”.

“Pornography is a term used for adults engaging in consensual sexual acts distributed legally to the general public for their sexual pleasure. Child abuse images are not. They involve children, who cannot and would not consent and who are victims of a crime.”

Other reports involved grooming: adults trying to befriend children, establish an emotional connection with them and lower their inhibitions with the intention of exploiting or abusing them sexually.

According to the agency, this is usually carried out through the use of social networks, instant messaging and chatrooms.

“In a number of cases, young people have thought they have met somebody really special online, but they are in fact talking to an adult who has a sexual interest in them.

“These adults and older adolescents target children and young people with the aim of making them feel loved enough to want to meet the adult in the real world.”

The agency said that it sees the increase in reports this year as “very positive”. It showed more people were becoming aware of the service and understood that by reporting these websites they were helping to fight child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Their action could rescue a child who is a victim of abuse.

How the agency takes action

Appoġġ receives some reports which do not require its attention, as they turn out to involve adult pornography.

“Sometimes the person reporting thinks that there are children in the images when instead the people involved are adults acting as teens,” the agency spokeswoman said.

“If we receive cases of local children involved, we refer these immediately to the Child Protection Services within Aġenzija Appoġġ and to the vice squad within the Malta Police Force.”

Sexting cases are treated differently: victims are offered support to help them deal with the embarrassment that comes with having such photos online and available to anyone to see.

“It can be really humiliating to know that the photos are out there for everyone to see and judge. In most cases, we involve the family, to offer further support to the child.”

Sometimes there is little action that can be taken on reports: criminals do their utmost to hide content on the dark web or move it from one server to another, making it impossible for the material to be located.

  Reports of online abuse Action taken Cases involving Maltese children
2011 145 69 5
2012 58 27 13
2013 160 147 15
2014 168 115 46
2015 204 117 41
2016 207 74 40

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