Crime agencies link 256 Australians to
online child-sex abuse
SIMON BENSONNATIONAL AFFAIRS EDITOR
Criminal intelligence agencies have identified 256 Australians they believe have paid more than $1.3m for live-streamed child abuse and rape from The Philippines, amid calls from enforcement agencies for updated laws to tackle child-sex networks using the “dark web” to escape detection.
A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, the first study of its kind into the escalating use of live online child abuse, revealed that more than 2700 financial transactions suspected to be payments for extreme child abuse had been made out of Australia between 2006 and 2018.
However, sophisticated encryption through the dark web was increasingly preventing agencies such as the Australian Federal Police from monitoring communications between abusers and service providers.
The research paper is to be released on Wednesday as the heads of the AFP, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission come together at the National Press Club, where they are likely to call for further legislation to combat encryption specifically related to online child abuse.
It is the first analysis linking financial transaction data from Austrac with criminal histories by the ACIC to profile the number of Australians paying for live child sexual abuse streaming based out of The Philippines.
It also used the data to profile child-sex predators termed “webcam child-sex tourists” as likely to be aged in their 50s or 60s, with most (55 per cent) having no criminal record.
The report follows an Austrac investigation late in 2019 into Westpac over 23 million alleged breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, including transactions made by people suspected of engaging in child exploitation rackets. It comes on the back of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s attack on digital platforms, including Facebook, for an alleged refusal to co-operate with intelligence agencies over end-to-end encryption that hid the activities of child-sex networks.
In a sign of the urgency with which law enforcement is viewing the proliferation of this type of crime, head of ACIC Mike Phelan said the laws as they stood had failed to keep up with technology and needed to be reviewed with use of the dark web rapidly increasing.
“One thing this paper highlights is live-streaming of child sexual abuse leaves very little online trace or record and how technology is enabling its proliferation, making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to combat this devastating crime,” Mr Phelan said.
“Communications technologies, such as encryption, are increasingly exploited by criminals to conceal their illegal activities — to the extent that 90 per cent of the ACIC’s investigations now involve encryption — for example, the use of high-end encrypted smartphones that are far more sophisticated than your traditional over-the-top applications such as WhatsApp, Wickr or Signal.
“In practical terms, this means we simply cannot see what these destructive criminal groups are saying to one another. We no longer have just our hands tied behind our back — we are also wearing earmuffs and an eye patch.
“Not only are criminals concealing their communications but they are also finding new platforms to conduct and grow their operations. Australia’s use of dark web marketplaces is expected to increase into the future, given the increasing popularity of online trading and the perceived anonymity such marketplaces provide.
“Right now, our laws are not keeping up with technology. To ensure legislation maintains pace with the rate of adoption of new technology by criminals, it must be adaptable and, arguably, technology agnostic.”
Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose will say their financial tracking had identified sex predators using “webcam child-sex tourism” previously unknown to authorities. “The transactions we provided concerned 256 individuals resident in Australia who had made at least one transaction to a known facilitator in The Philippines,” she will say in her address.
“Many of the Australians identified with sending funds were previously completely unknown to law enforcement. In fact, these offenders were actively taking steps to hide their movements in our community. Taken together, findings from these cases can assist to form a profile of offenders.
“The study showed that these individuals were likely to be aged in their 50s or 60s and over half had no criminal record. Of those who did have a criminal history, only 10 per cent had a sexual offence recorded.
“Of course, this crime involves victims in many countries but in partnership with our global law enforcement partners and NGOs, we have identified The Philippines as a hub for live-streaming abuse.”
The AIC report says the prevalence and demand for CSA live-streaming, based on anecdotal evidence, was growing globally.
“Offenders often request how they want the child to be sexually abused either before or during the live-streaming session,” it says. "There is clear evidence of escalation in the frequency and potential severity of offending in the financial transactions made to CSA live-stream facilitators.”
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the agency had received almost 17,000 reports of online child sexual abuse. Each report contained hundreds to thousands of images and videos.
Russian women pleading for legislation to halt 'epidemic' of domestic assault
Warning: This story contains graphic details
Chris Brown · CBC News 
In December 2017, Margarita Gracheva's husband brutally attacked her. She has since emerged as one of the most high-profile victims of Russia's epidemic of domestic violence. (Pascal Dumont/CBC)
Given the savagery of what Margarita Gracheva's husband did to her, you'd think Russian lawmakers would want to stop it from happening to other women. Instead, attitudes toward legislating tougher laws on domestic violence remain stuck in another century.
Two years ago, Gracheva's husband cut off both of her hands, leaving the 27-year-old mother of two mutilated for life. "I still have pain. It hurts and aches, but you get used to it," Gracheva told CBC News in her St. Petersburg home, flexing the fingers on her artificial hand, which is attached to her right arm at the wrist.
The black fingers and silver joints give the German-made device an almost skeletal look, but it is dexterous enough for Gracheva to grasp small objects — after some practice.
Her left hand, meanwhile, is wrapped in a bandage and also clearly far from normal, visibly scarred and only partially functioning. But at least it allows her to once again feel her children's skin.
"I still have a problem [combing] hair," she said. "But really, happiness is in the little things."
Gracheva has emerged as one of the most high-profile victims of Russia's epidemic of domestic violence, and has given a powerful voice to the frustrations felt by women's advocates who have tried for years to get stronger domestic violence legislation passed.
"There is no law now — nothing exists," Gracheva said. "There is only help if there are beatings or a dead body. I don't know how many more tragic cases have to happen for that to change."
Sadistic attack
As Gracheva recounted her story, she acknowledged that "even now, when I read about it, my tears well up."
She and her husband, Dmitry, met more than a decade ago, when she was still a teenager. A couple of years ago, they started having difficulties in their marriage, and she claims he was paranoid that she was having an affair.
Margarita Gracheva with her ex-husband, Dmitry, and their two boys in happier times. (Submitted by Olesya Bosak)
In October 2017, she told him she wanted a divorce, and shortly afterward he moved out, although they continued to jointly parent their two boys, then aged three and five. On the morning of Dec. 11, 2017, Gracheva needed a ride to get the children to daycare. It was the moment Dmitry had been waiting for to execute a sickening plan.
In his court testimony, he explained that he had scouted out a wooded area near their home. And he bought an axe. Dmitry recounted how he picked Gracheva up in his car, overpowered her, tied her up and blindfolded her.
Then, Dmitry attacked her with the axe, over and over again, delivering 40 blows. First, he sliced into one of her legs. Then, he cut off one hand, followed by the other. "She was crying and asking, 'What are you doing? Why are you doing this?'" he said in his testimony.
Leaving parts of Gracheva's severed and pulverized hands on the ground sticking out of the snow, Dmitry carried her to the car and took her to the hospital. Police returned to the forest and recovered what they could, but surgeons were only able to re-attach one hand. Even that might not have been possible were it not for the fact that the snow had kept the bones and flesh cold.
Photos of the procedure — too gruesome for CBC to publish — show horrible scars where surgeons sewed Gracheva's small hand back together in three pieces, and then reattached it to her arm.
Gracheva in hospital, putting on a brave face in the days after the December 2017 attack. (Submitted by Margarita Gracheva)
During his sentencing, where he received 14 years in prison, Dmitry told the court, "I'm not trying to justify what I did. But when I realized I had no more family, I felt like there was nothing left to live for."
So, why didn't you kill yourself instead of chopping up your children's mother?
Indifferent authorities
Gracheva said while she knew her husband could get angry on occasion, the ferocity of the attack was unexpected. "There was love — and then he changed in seconds and became a sadist and a maniac."
But it wasn't the first time he had threatened her. A month before, Dmitry had confronted her over his suspicions of infidelity. She claims he threatened her with a knife, although he denies it.
Gracheva said she reported the incident to the police but was met with indifference. "They spoke with him after, but not something serious — like friends talking at a building entrance, not as police officers and a criminal."
On Dec. 7, 2017, her complaint against her husband was closed. The axe attack happened four days later.
"There is not any prevention of domestic violence in Russia," said Alena Popova, a lawyer who for the past six years has led a push to strengthen Russian law.
She said restraining orders for threatening behaviour, intimidation and verbal threats do not exist. The only time authorities can legally act is if a woman actually suffers severe physical harm, at which point police can lay a criminal charge. Even then, Popova said, the bar to criminally punish an abusive spouse is high.
Abuse 'epidemic'
Popova said that in 2017 Russia made the penalty for assaulting a spouse roughly the same as for a traffic infraction.
Lawyer Alena Popova has been pushing for stronger domestic violence laws in Russia for six years. 'Its an epidemic,' she said. (Pascal Dumont/CBC)
"If you have the wrong parking [spot] in Moscow, you pay 5,000 rubles [$100 Cdn]. If you beat anyone inside your flat, it's 5,000 rubles," said Popova. "If you beat anyone inside your family, you just pay a fee. And the signal which our government sends to the perpetrators is that it's O.K., you can just pay a fee."
Popova said that according to the country's official statistics agency, Rosstat, 16 million Russian women each year — roughly one in five — report some form of abuse from a domestic partner.
"It's an epidemic in Russia," Popova said.
For a brief time in 2019, Popova had hope that things might change. A series of shocking cases, including Gracheva's, prompted Russia's state media to give the issue far more prominence than usual.
Crucially, Oxhana Pushkina, a member of the ruling United Russia party, agreed to co-sponsor Popova's legislation, which would have, for the first time, given domestic violence special status in Russian law. It would have finally empowered police to issue restraining orders against abusive spouses.
But when the legislation was tabled in the Duma, or parliament, in December, Popova was shocked to discover it had been dramatically altered. The key provisions on restraining orders, for example, had been eliminated.
"It's like the castration of a law," she said.
The draft is now being studied by a parliamentary committee, so there's a chance it could be strengthened, but advocates aren't hopeful.
'Law castrated'
The domestic violence law may be another casualty of Russia's ideological battle with the West. Popova said opponents often portray such social initiatives as caving into "liberal" or "western" thinking.
"The situation in our country is crazy. We have two different points of view — that violence should be prohibited and that violence is our traditional value," she said. "'Yes, I can beat my kids, but I am the father and I can do that, because I have authority as a parent."
The most formidable opponents have come from Russia's Orthodox church movements.
Hundreds of people in Moscow recently attended a rally at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in opposition to the proposed new legislation. Some who spoke at the event appeared to equate punishing spousal assault with issues such as gay rights or same-sex marriage.
Andrei Kormukhin, leader of of the conservative Orthodox group Sorok Sorokov, said stronger domestic violence laws will 'destroy the traditional Russian family.' (Pascal Dumont/CBC)
"Those who are lobbying for this law are enemies of Russia, the enemies of the family," said Natalya Reutova, who spoke at the meeting. "This law can lead to the fact that our young generation will not want to create a family and bear children."
Hmmmm. Let me think about this.... So, they wont want to create a family because they can't beat them up?
Other comments seemed like they were from another era.
"Everything may happen in a family. Maybe even if the husband beats the wife — if it's not very hard — she'll come to her senses," said another woman, who wouldn't give her name.
Andrei Kromukhin, the leader of an Orthodox conservative group called Sorok Sorokov, suggested the state has no business regulating what goes on inside a family unit, no matter how extreme. And he suggested that Margarita Gracheva has become a pawn in a much bigger fight between "western" and Russian values.
"Unscrupulous lobbyists of this law are using Gracheva for unscrupulous purposes," he said. "It makes me sad."
Unscrupulous purposes, like bringing Russia into the 20th century, only 100 years behind.
Learning to cope
Just how pervasive such views are in Russian society is unclear. A poll by the independent Levada-Center in September 2019 suggested most Russians are in favour of more "informal" solutions to addressing domestic violence, such as reporting abuse to family, friends or a psychologist, rather than strengthening laws.
In any case, neither those in the Kremlin nor the deputies in Russia's parliament seem prepared to invest too much in taking on the church groups.
Gracheva is dismayed by the difficulty of getting effective domestic violence legislation, but on a day-to-day basis, she's more focused on coping with her disability.
A friend who's a professional photographer took glamour photos of Gracheva to help build her confidence. (Submitted by Margarita Gracheva)
Doctors in St. Petersburg have given her a $75,000 US German-made artificial hand — her "bionic" hand, as she calls it — and she said she is keeping busy re-learning basic skills.
Uninjured muscles in her arm allow her to trigger the fingers on the hand to open and close, although she says it takes a lot of practice.
"I was very happy when I could make coffee for the first time, to turn pages in a book — small things which you don't pay attention to in normal life."
Her other hand, which was re-attached in the hours after her husband's attack, only has about 15 per cent mobility.
During our interview, Gracheva flipped through the pages of the book she has written about her ordeal, which has the distressing title Happy Without Hands. She also discussed her ex-husband in measured tones, with few hints of anger.
"From the beginning, I decided there is no sense to cry," she said. "I have two kids and I have to learn to live in a new way and move forward."
A friend who's a professional photographer offered to take some glamour shots of her, which she posted on social media to show that she's coping with the aftermath of the attack.
"I haven't given up on my personal life. You can't judge all men by one person" she said, acknowledging she's open to having another relationship, and possibly even more children.
While her resilience is remarkable, Gracheva is concerned that in six years, when her ex-husband is eligible to be released from jail, he will try to get back into her life. And that by then, Russia may still not have a domestic violence law in place to protect her.
Israeli high court rejects surrogacy ban
for same-sex parents, single men
for same-sex parents, single men
By Don Jacobson
The ruling is a major victory for LGBT advocates, who have opposed the surrogacy law for two years.
File Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE
The high court's unanimous decision, handed down Thursday, was a victory for Israel's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, which staged mass protests in 2018 after the Knesset limited the law to allow only single women and heterosexual couples to become parents via surrogacy.
An attempt to amend the controversial statute to include same-sex couples was not successful, despite support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The sweeping exclusion of homosexual men from the use of surrogacy is viewed as 'suspicious' discrimination, suggesting that this part of the population is inferior," Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Justices Hanan Melcer and Neal Hendel wrote in Friday's decision.
The plaintiffs, the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers, celebrated the victory.
"Even if there's still a ways to go to reach full equality, from today we can all raise a family -- just like everyone else," group co-founders Itai and Yoav Finks Arad said. "We must now see to it that the next government enacts a new, egalitarian law."
The high court ordered the Knesset to amend the legislation within 12 months or it would move to strike it entirely from the books.
Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz -- who will again face off against Netanyahu in another election Monday, the third in less than a year -- also welcomed the ruling.
"The time has come to actually amend the surrogacy bill, rather than just talking about it," he said. "A Blue and White-led government is the only one that would amend the bill and ensure equality."
It's disturbing that the two men, most likely to be Prime Minister of Israel, should know so little about God!
Brighton, UK schools tell pupils - boys can have periods too, in new guidelines on transgender issues
OMG - We have to stop letting LGBTQs write child sex education curriculum. This is just insane!
By Luke Kenton
The Mirror
School children will now be taught periods aren't exclusive to one gender (Image: Getty)
Primary school children will now be taught "all genders" can have periods in a bid to be more inclusive to transgender children, a council has revealed.
Advice on menstruation will be issued to boys and girls after Brighton and Hove City Council passed a motion to help minimise discrimination against the trangender community.
Pupils in the city will be taught that periods are not exclusive to any one gender in sexual education classes.
The new guidelines stated: "Trans boys and men and non-binary people may have periods."
The guidelines also advise that bins for sanitary products and waste should provided in both male and female bathrooms.
The council's plan has received widespread criticism, as the guidelines have been scrutinised for favouring political correctness over "biological fact".
The new guidelines encourage schools to stock male and female bathrooms with bins for sanitary products and waste (Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra)
Speaking to The Times , Stephanie Davies-Arai from Transgender Trend, said: “This is deliberately misleading children about biological facts.
“The wider agenda here is the indoctrination of children into the belief that personal identity overrides biology, and we must ask why certain adults wish to confuse children by pretending that there is no distinction between the sexes.”
In a statement, Brighton Council said: "By encouraging effective education on menstruation and puberty, we hope to reduce stigma and ensure no child or young person feels shame in asking for period products inside or outside of school if they need them.
"We believe that it's important for all genders to be able to learn and talk about menstruation together. Our approach recognises the fact that some people who have periods are trans or non-binary."
Current Government guidelines say schools reserve the power to address the teaching of LGBT+ issues however they see fit, so long as the teaching is "sensitive and age-appropriate".
A UK Government Loophole Putting Tutored Children At Risk Must Be Closed Now
Tanvir Malik MukhtarByline Times
Why aren’t private tutors required to have compulsory background checks to safeguard the young people they are working with?
One Saturday in 2014, I received a telephone call from a police officer who asked me whether I was the owner of the number.
He said: “I am a police officer investigating a crime connected to an individual who has your number in his phone, do you know them?” I replied: “Yes, I do, they are my children’s private tutor and come to my house once a week.”
At this point, my blood ran cold and questions flew around my head like a swarm of bees. What had this person done and why was the police calling me? The officer went on to explain that the tutor had been arrested for sexually abusing one of their tutees and that they needed to check whether there were any other victims.
My first reaction was a sickening feeling in the stomach and a belief that it couldn’t possibly happen to my kids, that they were fine. They were seven and nine-years-old. I felt as if I had been a bad parent, guilty for exposing my kids to this tutor. Even though they were unhurt, what could I do to fix it?
I came to the conclusion that I should never have relied so much on a personal recommendation and I should have done more research. I should have asked more questions, I should have been better informed, I should have asked for a DBS check – and this is where the huge problem lies.
A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check brings to attention any details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings that are held on the Police National Computer.
Legally, if someone wants to work in a school, DBS verification is compulsory. But, incredibly, the private tuition space has no DBS regulation at all. It is left completely up to a parent to find out if a tutor is acceptable without any resources to help them make the best decision.
Many private tutors, who may also be school teachers, have a DBS check, however, many do not and, if they have been rejected in the classroom, they can openly work with kids in a private setting. This is the loophole that must be closed.
As a result, I started working on designing an online only tuition platform called Scholar Hub, allowing parents an informed choice of tutors. I wanted all educators of children under 16 to be either DBS checked or have enhanced, digital background checks as a strict policy.
However, many parents still rely on finding a local teacher for academic, musical or sports tuition – and there is no legal requirement on the thousands of self-employed private tutors in the UK to undergo a criminal record check which would reveal details of any child sex offences. This is in stark contrast to jobs such as accountants, vets and even traffic wardens, whose work does not directly involve children.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in the year ending March 2019, the police in England and Wales recorded 73,260 sexual offences where the victims were identified as children. This is a rise of 15% on the previous year. Sexual abuse has also become the most common type of abuse counselled by Childline in recent years and the most commonly reported type of abuse by adults calling the National Association for People Abused in Childhood’ helpline in the year ending March 2019. The abuse was most likely to have been perpetrated by a friend or acquaintance (37% of all cases).
This is why it is imperative that child tutoring is regulated by the Government and a loophole, that could leave thousands of privately-taught children at risk of harm, closed. It should be compulsory that anyone who teaches a child and has regular one-on-one lessons with that child must be background checked by law.
Should it not be up to the Government to regulate this space as it is in the national interest for child safety?
Dark web: Study reveals how new offenders get involved in online paedophile communities
Police are targeting the dark web to catch sex offenders. adike
Research Associate, Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, Aston University
The “dark web” – a collection of heavily encrypted websites, forums and social networks – notoriously provides spaces for illegal activities. It’s where child sexual offenders meet to support each other and share indecent images and advice on abuse techniques – with near-complete anonymity. This provides a resource for individuals to learn the “skills” to become more dangerous offenders.
In response, some law enforcement agencies deploy undercover officers to enter these spaces posing as offenders to gather intelligence. But we don’t hear much about these communities. When it comes to online child abuse, it is largely stories of online grooming that dominate the press. As part of my recent PhD research, however, I offer an insight into dark web communities of sexual offenders by analysing their language.
Interactions between offenders have a devastating impact on victims. We need to understand them better, especially if this helps police to disrupt offending communities. Given that the online activities are almost exclusively linguistic, a good way to do this is with language analysis. This can help us understand how an officer might “authentically” portray an offender online.
Abusive communities are governed by strict rules – for example, not giving out personal information – to preserve security. Invariably, they are made up of members with varying levels of offending experience and expertise. An interesting subgroup are those who identify as “newbies”, with little or no experience of abusing or interacting in dark web environments.
Understanding newbies can help determine offenders’ experience levels. It is the first step to tracking how offenders progress to become more experienced and prolific. It can also help undercover police to portray realistic identities. When interacting with offenders who are often extremely distrustful and keenly aware of possible police presence, posing as the newbie might in fact be the easiest way to enter an offending community.
So how do self-identifying newbies approach and attempt to join established offending communities online? To answer this, I took a look at the rhetorical moves – chunks of text with distinct communicative functions – in newbies’ initial forum posts.
Through a manual analysis of 71 posts from six child abuse forums, I found 12 different moves. Aside from typical features of instant messaging such as “greetings” and “sign offs”, some of the most common are listed below.
1. Expressing motivations: Newbies state their reasons for wanting to join the community. This involves expressing interests in specific age groups or types of indecent imagery, or hopes of finding other likeminded people to talk to.
2. Demonstrating alignment: Newbies highlight their existing alignment or affiliation with the community, its interests and ideals. This often involves stating a sexual interest in children and sharing experiences of abusing. A common strategy is “de-lurking”, whereby newbies reveal that they have been passively present in the community for a while but have now decided to participate. This allows them to demonstrate their prior exposure to the community, and their understanding of its rules and practices.
3. Expressing appreciation: This group of offenders show their appreciation of individual members and the community as a whole. This is done through praise, compliments and expressions of gratitude.
4. Demonstrating newness: Newbies openly refer to their newbie status. Aside from explicit statements about being new to the community, they often do this by stating that they lack offending experience. They therefore often request tolerance from the other members.
5. Demonstrating value: Offenders also tend to demonstrate how they can benefit the community. For example, they may offer indecent imagery or demonstrations of specific skills or services. This may include drawing hyper-realistic indecent images.
6. Stating limitations: Newbies explain how they might be unable to meet community expectations or requirements, often by stating a lack of specific skills or possession of indecent images – something they may be apologetic about.
7. Seeking support: New offenders sometimes seek help or guidance about a particular problem regarding online or offline offending. Support often concerns accessing children, solving technical issues to do with sharing imagery online, and moral guidance.
Different combinations of moves suggest there’s no one “type” of newbie offender; they approach the community for a range of reasons and use different tactics in the process. A common general strategy is to assume a kind of hybrid role – the “competent newbie” – by being forthcoming about lacking offending experience and, at the same time, demonstrating an understanding of the community norms and the behaviours expected of its members. Even the self-imposed label “newbie” positions them not as outsiders looking in, but as already part of the community, albeit in a low-status role.
The anonymity afforded by the dark web naturally makes these communities difficult to police – but not impossible. Linguistic analysis of dark web spaces like this can further help unpack the communicative strategies of offenders, identify those more and less experienced and assist police in assuming offender roles online.
Online child sex abuse is diverse and complex, and linguistic insight has and will continue to help police identify and catch offenders.
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Nando's-inspired sex slang used by girls as young as 10
Data based on texts of 50,000 children suggests ‘peri peri’ and ‘coleslaw’
not as innocent as parents may think
The Guardian
SafeToNet has screened more than 65m texts since November. Photograph: Martin Carlsson/Alamy
If a child texts about enjoying “peri peri” or “coleslaw”, parents may be unnerved to discover they might not be talking about a family meal out.
An internet safety service that has monitored the online interactions of more than 50,000 children has discovered that girls as young as 10 are using code words drawn from the Nando’s restaurant menu to obscure explicit sexual conversations.
SafeToNet has screened more than 65m texts sent since November and found that girls aged 10, rather than teenage boys, as they had expected, use the most explicit and potentially harmful sexual language.
“We weren’t expecting to see that,” said Richard Pursey, the founder and chief executive of the service, which monitors popular messaging apps including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger as well as Instagram and Snapchat. “We thought it would be more likely to be boys than girls and in the 12 to 13 age group.”
As well as overtly graphic terms, they use “peri peri” to mean a well-endowed male and “coleslaw” to mean a bit on the side, he said.
The SafeToNet app looks for language indicating sexual talk, abuse, aggression and thoughts about suicide and self-harm. It applies a threat level to each and 10-year-old girls were the most prominent in category 3 of sexual references, which relates to the most explicit and harmful language.
In December, it emerged that more than 6,000 children under 14 have been investigated by police for sexting offences in the past three years, including more than 300 of primary school age.
Pursey said: “We don’t think it is as sinister as it seems. We think it is a rite of passage and is related to that rather than actual sexual activity.” He said the high incidence of sexual language appeared to coincide with girls texting in large groups of other girls.
SafeToNet also found that while girls in general use more sexually explicit language than boys, boys are more abusive and aggressive, and children fear bullying the most on a Sunday evening.
The analysis provides a window into the often hidden online lives of eight- to 16-year-olds. Half of 10-year-olds have a smartphone and ownership doubles between the ages of nine and 10, according to the regulator, Ofcom.
Parents’ concerns about how social media may trigger self-harm have risen since the death in 2017 of Molly Russell, who killed herself aged 14 after viewing posts about self-harm and suicide on Instagram. Almost half of parents of children aged five to 15 are concerned about their child seeing content that could encourage them to harm themselves, the regulator found.
The app screens children’s texts and warns them when they are engaged in risky online behaviour, sometimes blocking their device from sending a text. It provides parents with a report about the level of risky language their children are using but does not reveal what they wrote.
As worrying as the findings may be for parents, there was a glimmer of hope in that when children spend more time with their families and screen time drops, so does some risky behaviour. “Saturdays are very busy for families and we can tell that on Saturdays the aggression drops,” Pursey said.
SafeToNet employs a team of linguists and psychologists specialising in online behaviour to programme the algorithm that screens texts. It uses artificial intelligence to contextualise what users are typing so it only flags phrases if they are being used in a way that indicates potentially harmful behaviour.
If someone wrote “Raheem Sterling killed it last night against Real Madrid”, there would be no warning but if someone wrote “Go kill yourself” the screen would flash red and it would not allow the user to send the message.
The system notices patterns that could indicate risk. Rapid exchanges of short texts can indicate bullying or sexual dialogue. It also picks up on “leeting”, the tactic of adjusting spellings so “hate” becomes “h8” and “awesome” becomes “4W3S0M3”.
A message that calls someone an “idiot” could flash amber to warn the sender that it might not be wise to send it. Worse language may trigger a red light and block its dispatch. “It is trying to educate the child in real time,” Pursey said.
The app is installed on children’s phones with their knowledge. It works by overlaying its own keyboard on whatever social media apps children are using in order to monitor what they are writing. Using an algorithm, it feeds back to the user in real time if what they are typing is considered risky, using colour coding. Parents do not get to find out what their children are writing, but are instead provided with a risk score.
SafeToNet says the app focuses on sexual language and patterns of behaviour such as sexting; abuse and aggression and notably bullying; issues of low self-esteem and notably dark thoughts, anxiety and stress.
Those aged 10 and 11 account for about 35% of the children on the platform.
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Children sent to Mexico under Trump’s asylum policy face risk of abuse, trauma and sex trafficking
By Warren Binford and Michael Garcia Bochenek
Dallas Morning News
Protection is in short supply in the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, the program implemented last year that forces many people seeking asylum, including children, to wait in Mexico while their cases are heard in U.S. immigration courts.
Over the past few months, we’ve been interviewing children and their families in the program, more aptly known as “Remain in Mexico.” What we found is alarming.
Many of those we interviewed said they or their family members have experienced rape, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery, and other actual or threatened violence after U.S. immigration officials sent them to Mexico.
The Trump administration says that it created this policy to protect children and families from trafficking. The claim is disingenuous. Mexico is one of the main source countries for human trafficking victims identified in the U.S. and has a known problem with child sex trafficking in particular. It’s especially disturbing that sending children to Mexico puts them at risk of rape, assault, and other abuse — risks that are similar to the dangers they and their families may have been fleeing in the first place. The true aim of the policy appears to be to curtail the right to seek asylum in the United States.
Please go to the Dallas Morning News for the rest of this article.
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