Are Your Kids Safe Online? Understanding the Growing Threat of Sextortion

Introduction

Our work in Schools delivering to students, staff, parents and professionals over the last 15 years is always current. This is in no small part due to insightful evidence-based, youth-led research such as Thorn’s ‘Youth’s Perspectives of Online Safety 2023’ (and Thorn’s other highly useful accompanying reports) which reports worrying evidence on young people’s perspectives, attitudes and behaviour while acknowledging the positive impact fast paced technologies are having on their lives.

The Problem

However the most worrying evidence in this report and many others, concerns the behaviour of opportunistic adults whose ‘activities’ or indeed vocation involves sextortion, creating deepfake imagery, extorting for financial and/or sexual gain and grooming children and teenagers in order to acquire SG CSAM (Self-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material). This is a present and emerging danger on an industrial scale.

Young people are also prolifically sharing explicit images of peers - without consent to the extent that this is a public health issue.

Thorn reports: One in 5 teenagers have shared nudes – One in 7 aged 9-17 have shared a nude with an adult. One in 5 pre-teens have had an online sexual interaction with an adult. Nearly 60% (59%)of teenagers have had a risky encounter online and One in 4 teenagers believe it is normal to send ‘nudes’ and experience ‘positive feelings’ after having sent one! One in 10 minors know of cases where explicit images of peers have been shared. One in 7 minors have admitted to sharing their own explicit imagery and of those, one in 3 have had a sexual interaction online.

Financial sextortionists are targeting mainly teenage boys between 14-17. This is working for them as Thorn reported one in 17 had experienced sextortion. Thorn reports that ‘the progression of threats is extremely rapid, often starting within hours of first contact – and designed to pressure children to pay. Before they have have time to either process these threats or seek support’

'Young people are using generative AI to create deepfake nudes of peers' Thorn Report

‘The Hill’ reports that school bullying has ‘Gone Ai’. A mother of a girl who attended a school in New Jersey reported on CNN last year that a student had used Ai to create an explicit image of her daughter. In Pennsylvania a mother used Ai to create explicit images of her daughters cheerleading rivals which resulted in one of the girls being suspended. The school were convinced the Ai image was real. Young people are increasingly reliant on in-platform tools to help them navigate risks, rather than telling a trusted adult. This is clearly not working.

So what can we do..

In tandem with researchers - we need offline and in-person education for our children and teenagers from professionals who understand the landscape, are credible with teenagers and who can motivate young people and adults to want to protect themselves. Professionals who can equip us with skills to recognise opportunists, extortionists and potential groomers, spot deep fakes, identify scam risks and protect data and privacy.

This enhances the work educators are doing daily to minimise, prevent and deal with online related incidents. Despite the prevalence of the term ‘Safety by Design’ used by the big platforms, it appears profit and ‘getting there first’ in terms of new advancements in tech – is top priority. So it’s down to parents, teachers and practitioners to provide guidance and help. Credibility with teenagers can only be achieved with awareness of the current landscape.

Teenagers can and will protect themselves if they are engaged, provided with the tools and strategies to better manage their digital world.

Alex Kotran CEO of the Ai Education Project said ‘We have to be able to set clear norms as a society’. Our norms have changed. It’s time to reset them and limit the damage.

Worried about the online risks facing your students or children? Book our Online Safety Educational Workshops today and empower them to navigate the digital world safely.

Wayne