As parents, most of us are pretty well aware by now about what’s lurking behind the shadows of fake profiles and usernames on social media in terms of what we need to be thinking about for our children’s online safety. Unfortunately, it appears there’s new data every single day that just keeps adding to our concerns. According to new reports out of the UK, kids as young as 5 years old have been creating explicit TikTok content for strangers online who are paying them in virtual funds that helps them earn money for video games. Pretty scary stuff, right?
A document suggests that children are livestreaming inappropriate content for strangers.
According to a document prepared by the UK Online CSEA Covert Intelligence Team, obtained by The Telegraph, in return for explicit content, pedophiles are “paying” young children using TikTok’s “virtual ‘gift’ system,” which can be converted into actual “real-world” funds.
There have been offenders operating in groups of upward of 10,000 members who use gifts to reward children on social media for providing them with video content of things such as wearing a short skirt while performing a handstand, per The Telegraph.
To make matters even more scary, this video content has “escalated] all the way up to the most explicit sexual acts being undertaken by children on TikTok live streams,” which is often recorded and shared by online sex offenders, the outlet reported.
This type of explicit content is being rewarded in video game currency for popular games.
The OCCIT report reviewed by The Telegraph warns that children are selling this kind of explicit content for money and currency for video game play for the uber-popular gaming platforms Roblox and Fortnite.
This is not the first time these types of video games have caused concerns from worried parents to be brought to light. The BBC reported in 2022 that because gamers can build their own games, there were “Roblox sex games,” commonly referred to as “condos.” In this style of gaming room, users can talk about sex and have their avatars enlist in virtual sex. This in itself was extremely troublesome to parents trying to protect their kids online.
The OCCIT report obtained by The Telegraph also found that “many children engaging in these increasingly concerning practices are eventually subject to blackmail and extortion by adult sex offenders,” which can result in horrific and “humiliating abuse.”
This report begs the question as to whether these social media platforms ‘promote’ sexual abuse.
If you’re asking yourself the question about whether allowing your child to use TikTok is something that’s actually good for them, the OCCIT report concluded that “TikTok doesn’t just enable online sexual abuse. It currently promotes it.”
When the document was provided to Baroness Kidron, a social activist and member of the UK House of Lords, she explained that “Frankly, everything in that TikTok report is illegal and should not be happening,” The Telegraph reported. She also raised an extremely valid point that “if this was a toy it wouldn’t be allowed because it’s literally not suitable for children.”
Keeping these things in mind, it certainly gives parents the opportunity to pause and consider whether social media is a good place for their young children. And if they’re already there, is it time to make a change?
