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Children are getting phones earlier and earlier compared to previous years. With the issue with predators, parents should monitor their children.

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The internet can be risky for kids and teens in different ways. It’s made it easier for young people to chat and connect with friends or meet new people online, especially on popular social media sites. However, even on websites meant for kids and teens, there are sometimes adults with bad intentions. In serious cases, this could even lead to dangerous real-life meetings.

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All Data is from by Michael E. Kraut, childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro

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1. According the research it's believed there at around half of a million predators online everyday!

2. Minors in the age range of between 12 to 15 are most likely to be manipulated by adults they meet online. (According to the F.B.I., over 50 percent of the victims of online sexual exploitation are in the range of 12 and 15.)

3. Because the internet is not face to face, a whopping 89% of sexual advances on children happen online. The internet make people more bold because at first there are less consequences.

4. In most of the incidents reported predators ask victims for images of themselves that are not appropriate.

5. 4% of children get aggressive solicitations from adults online, in addition to the many attempts to contact the children in person or over the phone.

6. 58% of parents/guardians report being concerned about the threats that strangers pose online!

7. 2/10 children between the ages of 8 and 11 are aware of the issue and are scared that random people may find out information about them online.

8. And while using social media, 40% of children remove privacy settings in order to attract more friends or followers, especially on platforms like Instagram.

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From Isha Bhargava, writer from CBC News

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In 2021, Jeremy Dann, of London police's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit team, saw a 38% increase in reports of online enticement and sexual exploitation compared to the previous year. In 2022, that number went up again to 40%!

“Many modern social media apps are designed to delete messages after they’re sent or read, which keeps parents unaware of what their child is doing,” Dann said to Isha Bhargava the writer of the article.

“This feature can hide risky behavior.”

Catherine Tabak, the manager of cybertip.ca, Canada's national tip line for reporting issues online of child sexual abuse and exploitation, added that while this all existed before the pandemic, it has been taking place more often and been hurting more people, and familes. In 2022, her tipline, cybertip.ca, received over 800 reports, up from more than 600 in 2021.

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The dark side of Discord for teens; all information is provided by Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business

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In the more recent years following COVID's pandemic, when we were all online, larger social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have been getting criticized for how their platforms impact teens and moderation. As a user of all of those programs, though not constantly on them, there are numerous ways to exploit them.

Various statistics showed Instagram’s harm to mental health and body image, especially for teen girls, which led to lawmakers questioning the company's executives. Now, Congress is considering new laws to protect kids online. Previous US president Biden also called for action at some point, pushing for lawmakers, or anyone with a decent platform, to hold these platforms accountable for putting profits over people's well-being. (Capitalism is truly interesting to observe!)

A mother from Charlotte, North Carolina, shared that her 13-year-old daughter’s mental health suffered after a Discord chat room about her interests took a dark turn. The group began talking self-harm, hiding it from parents, and running away. The mother later discovered her daughter was self-harming and had planned to run away to meet a friend she met on Discord...

A father near Boston said he didn’t think much of his 13-year-old daughter downloading Discord because she liked gaming. Later, he found out she was chatting with a man in his 30s who asked for photos and inappropriate "cam" (💀💀💀💀) activities. He also learned that teens at her school secretly use Discord during the day, as it isn’t blocked like Snapchat or Instagram. “It’s the wild west of social media,” he said to CNN.

Thankfully, to current date in Peel, Discord is blocked from the internet. Sadly, student have begun using VPNs to access the platform once more.

Personal Experience:

One of the more unprotected and not as big company that I find to be responsible to a lot of Predator "farming" is Discord. On Discord TOS, terms of service, it is not allowed to creating spheres for dating in settings with teenagers. Regardless, there are teen "hangout" servers and predators just join and begin speaking with minors and exploiting them. Because anyone can lie about who they are, a child can think they are making a friend who is really and truly just a creep. And creeps don't always have to be over the age of 18, even if that's that's topic for today. It's very possible that children in the age range of 11 to 14 can meet someone 16 to 18 who was groomed (grooming is form a relationship with [a child or young person] with the intention of sexually assaulting them or inducing them to commit an illegal act such as selling drugs or joining a terrorist organization) when they were younger and are just repeating it to the next coming generation. Discord is the main social platform that I use to speak with my friends, and engage with people with similar interests. Because I've been online since 2020 (Yes, I was 10 and broke TOS as you need to be 13 to join, but many people do that) I've spoken to some very questionable people. My friends older sister's online friend joined the group, he was 15 and I was 10. He would constantly vent/lead the conversation into a direction where we would speak about his engagement in p*rn and how no one would accept him. Because any young child would want a friend, I supported him. Nothing sexual happened between both of us, but because it was behind a screen things were said that would never be said face to face by this random guy.

Thankfully I ended up getting hacked and that account is not longer in use, but there are still a tremendous amount of kids who experience worse things than I did everyday.

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Human trafficking is when people are tricked, forced, or taken advantage of to work or do things against their will, often in unsafe or unfair conditions. It’s a serious crime that hurts millions of people around the world and today we'll be looking at how it takes place through social media.

As part of this over view Human trafficking happens in different ways, but here are the main types according to "ourrescure.org" and the "US department of state":

1. Sex Trafficking is forcing someone into prostitution (sexual exploitation).

2. Labor Trafficking is making people work in unfair, unsafe conditions for little or no pay.

3. Child Trafficking is exploiting children for labor, begging [for stuff], or making the child in question do illegal activities.

4. Forced Marriage is forcing someone to marry against their will. When this happens it tends to be for control or financial gain.

5. Organ Trafficking is forcing or tricking someone into giving up their organs for illegal sale. It sounds unfathomable, it does happen!

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Human Trafficking and Social Media (Lead writer; Brittany Anthony from Polaris)

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Which are the most common according to the data collected?

(To give a short explanation, there was a textbook investigation into the numbers of what people were being recruited for, which is where these numbers are from. I will link it at the bottom if you want to read it yourself.)

Escort Services

The most common, with 6,418 cases and 4,555 potential victims reported (primarily sex trafficking).

Domestic Work

Second highest, with 1,437 cases and 753 potential victims (mainly labor trafficking).

Bars, Strip Clubs, and Cantinas

Third place, but probably equally as immoral, with 992 cases and 601 potential victims (both sex and labor trafficking).

What about the demographics? Who mostly gets targeted, and since this in regards to teens, what ages?

Age at Trafficking Entry

1. Most Common Ages, The youth

12-17 years (18%): A significant group, showing teenagers as a highly vulnerable demographic for trafficking.

18-23 years (18%): Young adults, another key age group targeted

0-11 years (17%): Shockingly high, representing the exploitation of VERY young children

2. Other Age Groups, The matured

39-47 years (14%): Adults in this range are also victimized (often in labor trafficking).

30-38 years (13%): A smaller portion but still noteworthy

24-29 years (12%): Young adults still in the early stages of their careers or independence

48+ years (6%): The least represented but still exploited

https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking-and-social-media/

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According to Polaris's survey, most survivors (over 75%) used the internet during their exploitation, with 27% saying they were on social media “very frequently.” Interestingly, social media wasn’t just a tool for harm-- it also helped some escape.

About 19% of survivors said it played a role in their exit, while 20% used private messages to connect with organizations offering help. Among all platforms, Facebook stood out as having the highest number of victims.

Once escaping victims report having different methods used to hurt them by the “recruiters” (the traffickers).

1. Restricted social media use (34%)

2. Stalked/Monitored (32%)

3. Exploited/advertised victim on social media (26%)

4. Sent harassing/threatening messages (26%)

5. Posted or Distributed non-con - sending intimate images (“revenge porn”) (25%)

6. Outed victim/spread lies/rumors (19%)

7. Hacked victim's social media accounts (18%)

8. Impersonated victim on social media (15%)

9. Other (including doxxing victims [which is leaking really important and secret personal information], wrongfully reported accounts, shared sexual abuse online) (5%)

Each and everyone of these options are bad for their own reasons! I see it as once you escaped, you really just entered into a trap of lies. Their are different tools on social media to remove of these posts and content being spread, but they may take while to be taken down because different platforms take different amounts of time to check reports. I find this intriguing because people were complaining that moderation was slow/pretty bad, so Meta and others have started using A.I to do the job instead. This leads to certain posts that aren't bad being taken down, and the bad posts staying up because they, the recruiters, found a loophole. This could be by changing thumbnails, or using hidden links.

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Avoiding Predators and Human Traffickers

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Be cautious with strangers!!

Avoid sharing personal information, photos, or location details with anyone you don’t know in real life.

Always set strict privacy settings! On social media, keep profiles private and only connect with people you trust.

Think before you post anything online, even in friend group chats. Avoid posting details like your address, school, or frequent hangout spots.

Don’t meet online strangers alone, that's like the fastest way to get yourself assaulted, or worse, murdered. But if meeting someone from the internet is unavoidable, go with a trusted adult or friend and choose a public place.

Use secure passwords and don’t share passwords with anyone except trusted guardians

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Don't trust too good to be true offers, especially on Facebook or websites that aren't safe. (Instead of https, they'll be http because the "s" means safe.) Be skeptical of job offers, modeling opportunities, or promises of money or travel that seem overly generous or rushed.

(Love-bombing) Predators often try to build trust by being overly kind, giving compliments, or offering gifts. Be aware of who you're talking to and don't tell them anything that could screw you over!

Be wary if someone asks you to hide your communication from others!! They might be trying to isolate you to use you.

If someone you barely know online starts expressing strong feelings or pressuring you, step back and reassess-- PLEASE.

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Who you gonna call? Not the ghost busters!

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In the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” to 233733. For Canada it's (1-833-900-1010)

Reach out to trusted people and/or local & international organizations help trafficking victims and offer resources to stay safe