Online ‘enticement’, extorting youth for money, sex or entertainment, has increased rapidly in recent years. — Dreamstime/TNS
RALEIGH, North Carolina: Recently released search warrants revealed a local investigation into online harassers who called police to a youth’s home and his Raleigh, North Carolina, high school after he refused to follow the group’s orders, which included carving a username into his arm.
That raises an important question. How do families and communities protect teenagers and younger kids from aggressive and sometimes illegal acts such as online doxing or swatting?
One place to start is to understand why it’s becoming more common, experts say.
For a year or more during the Covid-19 pandemic, many students relied on computers and other devices to connect with the outside world.
The practice shifted the idea that people met online should be treated as strangers, said Kathryn Rifenbark, director of the CyberTipline for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the perpetrators are located all over the globe, as well as their victims.
“But in today’s world, so many of those connections do happen online. So kids feel very comfortable with those that they meet online,” Rifenbark said.
It’s in that environment that kids, especially those looking for connections, could become vulnerable to online individuals and groups working together to harm them, whether by demanding money, taking nude pictures, even demanding that they harm themselves or their pets.
“These perpetrators are located all over the globe,” Rifenbark said. And so are there victims.
Groups target minority groups, those struggling with mental illness
Groups like those on Discord, the social and gaming platform that Raleigh police are investigating, target minors between the ages of 8 and 17, according to the FBI. They especially go after LGBTQ youth, racial minorities and those who struggled with mental health issues.
The groups use threats, blackmail, and manipulation to coerce victims to record them harming themselves and doing sexually explicit acts. The footage is then used to “extort victims further and exert control over them,” according to the FBI.
While some incidents involve strangers who kids meet online, predators can also be friends and family, according to the Know2Protect campaign launched last year by the Department of Homeland Security to address child sexual exploitation and abuse threats.
Online “enticement”, extorting youth for money, sex or entertainment, has increased rapidly in recent years. Last year, reports of enticement to the center increased by more than 140% to 456,000.
Rifenbark and other experts have advice on how to better safeguard youths:
Know what kids visit online. Parents must talk to their children about what platforms they are using. They should ensure they and their children are familiar with sites’ safety features and know how to report abuse to trusted adults or law enforcement, Rifenbark said.
Parents should continue to check in on their children’s online experiences and encourage youth to talk about strange messages and how to identify and respond to abusive behaviors.
“Like teaching a child how to safely cross the street, continuous discussions and reminders are key to safe online habits,” the Know2Protect campaign recommends.
The FBI recommends people exercise extreme caution when sharing information and photos on social media and other platforms, which can make people more vulnerable to harassment. The FBI also recommends occasionally searching themselves and their children’s name, photo, phone number and other information.
Understand potential harms. Some online perpetrators ask victims to cut themselves, so parents should talk with their child and review their online activity if they recognize that behavior from their son or daughter. Other warning signs of online abuse include sudden behavior changes, eating habits or appearance along with isolation and wearing long sleeves in hot weather to cover cuts, according to the FBI.
Report online abuse. The FBI recommends reporting online abuse throu its Internet Crime Complaint Center or an FBI field office. It also recommends reporting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline.
Rifenbark said people can block abusers on platforms but said they should not delete the messages or accounts so they can share it with law enforcement.
Help get content removed. If a child has sent a nude picture online, they can go to Take It Down, a service provided by the national center to help remove sexually explicit videos and photos taken of someone younger than 18. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service