Examining Child Safety Online

The internet provides boundless opportunities for connection, learning, and entertainment. However, it also enables new avenues for predators to access and exploit children. Recent Congressional hearings have scrutinized Big Tech companies and their role in protecting young users on their platforms.

Scope of the Problem

The online sexual exploitation of children is an urgent and growing crisis:

• According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reports of online enticement and child sexual abuse material have increased exponentially in recent years. In 2021 alone, NCMEC received 29.3 million reports compared to 16.9 million in 2020 – a 73% increase.
• Livestreaming abuse has also surged, with NCMEC finding a near threefold increase in reports between 2019 and 2021. Offenders manipulate children into creating explicit videos and images through popular apps and sites.
• The Internet Watch Foundation reported that 2021 saw the worst levels of child sexual abuse material ever documented. Images are becoming more graphic and are involving younger victims.

Technology Companies under Scrutiny

Social media and tech companies have faced sharp criticism for insufficient protections and moderation failures that enable abuse:

• During recent Congressional hearings, senators confronted executives from YouTube, TikTok, Snap and Meta (Facebook & Instagram) over steps they have taken to protect kids on their platforms.
• Meta in particular has been implicated for suggesting minors connect with suspicious accounts and for exposing pre-teen users to grooming in virtual reality (see Table 1).

Recent examples of child safety issues on Meta’s platforms

• This scrutiny prompted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue a public apology in early February to parents whose children were victims of online sexual exploitation. He vowed to make child safety a priority across Meta’s apps.

Predator Techniques and Grooming

Offenders employ various techniques to target children online and build trust to eventually abuse them:

• Befriending: Predators pose as teenagers or desirable friends to connect with kids on social platforms and in chatrooms or forums.Building rapport establishes further access.
• Gifting/Bribing: Offers such as game credits or Amazon gift cards are used to lower children’s inhibitions and coerce them into inappropriate behavior.
• Flattering/Complimenting: Excessive compliments about appearance or maturity work to develop emotional reliance and lower self-esteem. This progresses to sexual remarks.
• Blackmailing: Explicit images extracted from victims become leverage to force further illegal content under threat of exposure. Kids feel trapped and afraid to speak out.

These grooming strategies are often coordinated across multiple online channels and apps over an extended timeframe. The process gradually wears down children’s barriers until they become more compliant or accepting of exploitative demands.

Parental Precautions

While companies must improve safeguards, parents play a critical role in protecting kids online. Recommendations include:

• Maintaining open communication about online activity and potential dangers
• Monitoring screen time and setting parental controls on devices and wifi
• Ensuring kids understand privacy controls and reporting mechanisms on apps
• Fact-checking friends unknown outside the internet before allowing engagement
• Activating protective settings on sites like YouTube Kids and Google SafeSearch

Though the internet provides many enriching opportunities, vigilance is required to prevent children falling prey to cunning predators ever on the hunt. Progress relies on technology platforms bolstering defenses in concert with attentive parenting. With focus and cooperation, a safer online experience can prevail.