If you or someone you know is concerned about their internet activity, seek the help of professionals who specialize in this area. Unlike physical abuse which leaves visible scars, the digital nature of child sexual abuse material means victims are constantly re-traumatised every time their content is seen. Once inside, they can find vast criminals networks, including those peddling child sexual abuse material on a massive scale, Mistri adds. Up to 3,096 internet domains with child sexual abuse materials were blocked in 2024 amid Globe’s #MakeItSafePH campaign.
How do people sexually exploit children and youth online?
More than 200 Australians have collectively paid more than $1.3 million to watch live streamed child sexual abuse filmed in the Philippines. While the internet’s architecture has always made it difficult to control what is shared online, there are a few kinds of content that most regulatory authorities across the globe agree should be censored. I understand that this might be awkward and difficult, but it doesn’t need to be accusatory or judgmental. You may want to start by expressing how difficult this is to talk about and also say how much you care for him (if that’s true).
On the other hand, the government is asking for digital platforms to take responsibility for the impact of their technology. Jordan DeMay killed himself two years ago at the age of 17, just five and a half hours after he first made contact with a Nigerian man pretending to be a woman. DeMay, who was enticed into sending a naked photo of himself online, was threatened with having the images spread if he didn’t pay money. Matthew Falder was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2017 after admitting 137 counts of online abuse, including the encouragement of child rape and even the abuse of a baby.
Children
The city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was shaken by revelations in December 2023 that two local teenage boys child porn shared hundreds of nude images of girls in their community over a private chat on the social chat platform Discord. Witnesses said the photos easily could have been mistaken for real ones, but they were fake. The boys had used an artificial intelligence tool to superimpose real photos of girls’ faces onto sexually explicit images. We know that seeing images and videos of child sexual abuse online is upsetting. It is perhaps surprising that there is not a higher ratio of multiple child images in the ‘self-generated’ 3-6 age group. It would be easy to assume that a child of that age would only engage in this type of activity on camera with the encouragement in person of an older child, leading the way, but shockingly this is not what we have seen.
There’s #NoSuchThing as child pornography
There were 356 Category A, ‘self-generated’ images or videos of 3–6-year-olds hashed this year. Most of the Category A material involved children penetrating themselves, or another child. Prosecutors said the site had offered videos of sex acts involving children, infants and toddlers – and specifically asked users not to upload videos featuring adults-only pornography.
- “AI-generated child sexual abuse material causes horrific harm, not only to those who might see it but to those survivors who are repeatedly victimised every time images and videos of their abuse are mercilessly exploited for the twisted enjoyment of predators online.”
- OnlyFans says its age verification systems go over and above regulatory requirements.
- Some refer to them as “crime scene photos” since the act of photographing the child in this way is criminal.
OnlyFans says it works with online exploitation agencies like NCMEC to raise any potential issues with the relevant authorities. Cody had previously showered him with gifts on his 16th birthday, and admitted to earning the money by selling nudes online “to some old guy”, she added. “He was elated that they were making such an amazing amount of money for just having sex on camera for other people to watch,” says a woman who has known Aaron for many years. BBC News also heard of other cases of underage children gaining access to OnlyFans. Leah stopped posting on OnlyFans, but her account remained active on the site four months later, with more than 50 archived pictures and videos.