According to this, the perpetrators steal large quantities of recordings from private social media profiles in order to then upload them to forums in which photos showing serious child abuse are exchanged.

Stolen children's photos on child pornography sites:

On one of the largest illegal photo platforms for child pornographic content alone, at least one in four images originally comes from Facebook or Instagram. The recordings are often commented on obscenely; sometimes the perpetrators also mention the name and age of the child and even link to the original social media profiles.

Investigative authorities and child protection organizations have been appealing for years not to share children's photos. But how interested pedophiles are in such harmless images of girls and boys playing sports or on the beach was previously unknown. The Panorama and STRG_F research team has now succeeded for the first time in clarifying the origin of numerous recordings on relevant platforms. To do this, it examined several million photos automatically – and with legal advice. In hundreds of thousands of cases, evidence was discovered that the photos came from Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The research team also discovered numerous everyday images of children in relevant child pornography forums on the so-called Darknet. There they are uploaded into special categories such as “Non Nude”. The reporters were able to identify several cases of German children whose recordings originally came from Instagram or YouTube. Including a video that shows two boys playing a harmless game of hide-and-seek. In the comments, users fantasized about anal intercourse with the children, one wrote: “And then I make them my sex slaves.” The affected parents, confronted with the research results, were shocked and some of them deleted their social media profiles.

The research team discovered some cases in which images were even copied from social media profiles that are not publicly visible. When asked, Facebook and Instagram referred to the privacy settings offered: “We support parents in deciding with whom they want to share their everyday pictures.” Downloading user data generally violates the guidelines. They also have technology that proactively detects nudity and exploitative content by children when they are uploaded. YouTube said it is investing heavily in technology that offers the best possible protection to children and families.

STRG_F is produced by NDR for radio.
Item image: CTRL_F

Matching the topic: children's photos on Instagram, Facebook and CO

 


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Notes:
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