More young kids trying to share nude videos online

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This article was published 12/02/2024 (573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Children as young as five in Manitoba are trying to share nude videos of themselves on social media — often using a parent’s account — in a trend that has alarmed police and protection agencies.

Called self-exploitation, most kids are recording the images to be silly, but they don’t understand the consequences or dangers, said RCMP Cpl. Gord Olson.

“We’re seeing an uptick in the younger kids getting involved — a lot of elementary school students from five to nine, or 10 years old,” said the member of the RCMP’s Winnipeg-based internet child exploitation unit.

“A lot of times, a parent’s device has been used, and they don’t know. Kids that young should not have unsupervised access to devices.”

In 2023, the ICE unit received 652 reports of self-exploitation from social media companies, up from 242 in the previous year. RCMP believe it’s an under-reported trend.

“We know it’s happening at an alarming rate,” said Olson.

Abuse is suspected in a small percentage of cases, he added.

Young children shouldn’t be given unfettered access to smartphones or other devices, police and child-protection agencies say.

“Parents need to be on top of what their kids are doing on their devices,” said Olson.

The ICE unit is seeing “younger and younger kids” being given their own smartphones or tablets, he added.

U.S.-based social media companies are legally obligated to report child sexual abuse images detected on their apps or websites to the Virginia-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Last month, NCMEC said the majority of tech companies have not made even minimal efforts to combat child sexual exploitation on their platforms, most of which require users to be at least 13.

Olson said filters are supposed to stop posts from being uploaded, but he’s not naive to think all images are being caught.

When the ICE unit receives a self-exploitation report involving a Manitoba child, officers carry out checks to ensure the young person is safe.

“We try to figure out who’s doing this. Is there some coercion behind this?” said Olson. “Parents are just as shocked as we are when we’re making that phone call or knocking on that door.”

Offenders often pose as someone else to manipulate victims into sending explicit photos or videos. They then threaten to expose the material unless the victim sends money, more images or both.

Camillia Layne of C3P and Val Caldwell, who gives internet safety presentations in schools, said younger children are typically contacted by predators while playing online games.

The predator then encourages the child to move the chat to a social media app.

Parents are urged to monitor their children’s activity and have regular conversations with them to find out which websites or apps they are using, and who they are communicating with.

» Winnipeg Free Press