CANBERRA, SEPT 6 – Australian authorities issued a warning regarding the increase in cases of children falling into the production of sexual and violent content online.
The Australian Federal Police today warned parents and guardians about a growing trend in Australia, involving young people being forced to produce extreme content, reports Xinhua.
According to the Federal Police, a type of cybercrime known as sadistic sextortion is now growing and online communities are targeting children as young as 12 and forcing them to produce inappropriate images or videos as a condition of being accepted into the community.
Once the image or video is produced and sent to the perpetrator, it is then shared with other members of the community who in turn blackmail the victim by threatening to distribute the material to the victim’s friends or family if they refuse to produce more content. The police also informed that in some cases, the perpetrators are the same age as the victims.
Australian Federal Police Human Exploitation Commander, Helen Schneider said that based on information obtained from Australian Center to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), most of the perpetrators in this extreme group are motivated to gain status or influence in the group, not for profit.
“These perpetrators are not motivated by profit. They exploit victims to produce disgusting content for personal gratification. Unfortunately, some victims in this group do not consider themselves victims. They did not realize that they were being forced to do inappropriate actions, and did not report it to the authorities,” he said in a statement.
Police issued the warning in conjunction with National Child Protection Week (NCPW), which aims to educate Australians about the issue of child abuse and neglect. – Named
