Australian authorities warn of rising online child exploitation

Canberra, Sept 6 (IANS) Australian authorities have issued a warning over a rise in the number of children being forced to produce sexual and violent content online.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) warned parents and caregivers on Friday about an online trend emerging in Australia that sees young victims being coerced into producing extreme content over the internet, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to AFP, sadistic sextortion is a growing form of cybercrime, where online communities target children as young as 12 and pressure them to produce an image or video of an explicit sexual or violent act in order to gain acceptance into the community.

Once the image or video is created and sent to the perpetrator, the recipient will forward the content to other members of the community. They will blackmail the victim by threatening to share the explicit material with their friends or family unless more extreme content is produced.

According to the AFP, in some cases the perpetrators are the same age as the targeted victims.

Helen Schneider, AFP’s Human Exploitation Branch Commander, said intelligence from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) indicated that most offenders in extreme online groups were motivated by gaining status or notoriety within the group, rather than money.

“These offenders are not motivated by financial gain. Instead, they are driven by the exploitation of vulnerable victims to produce horrific content for their twisted entertainment,” she said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, some victims in these groups do not see themselves as victims. They do not believe that they are being forced to carry out these extremely horrific acts and are therefore unlikely to report it to the authorities.”

The AFP issued the warning to mark National Child Protection Week (NCPW), which aims to engage and inform Australians about the complexities of child abuse and neglect.

Schneider said parents and caregivers should be aware of the warning signs that a young person is being manipulated — such as increased screen time and self-isolation — and be prepared to have a conversation with a child they believe is engaging in harmful activity online.