Instakids in Danger: How Child Sex Offenders Find Children's Images on Social Media

• In Event: "Navigating Cyber Challenges: Adolescent Online Victimization and Its Implications"

Abstract

Social media platforms have become a treasure trove for child sex offenders. Parents themselves are often unwittingly contributing by sharing nude photos of their children. The term "sharenting" describes the practice of numerous parents sharing images of their children on social media platforms, often without realizing the risks associated with it. These images, intended to showcase parental pride or seek advice, create a vast repository from which child sex offenders draw material. The use of hashtags facilitates the easy access and dissemination of inappropriate content.

Our analyzes show that, for example, when searching for photos of small children's butts, children in underwear, or children using the toilet with the corresponding hashtags, tens of thousands of posts are discovered. For a precise understanding, we analyzed 1000 Instagram posts on 20 hashtags that were recognized as risky. These posts contain full-body photos of a total of 810 children, 28.9 percent of whom are completely unclothed.

Despite recommendations from law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organizations, parents often exhibit careless behavior online, with a substantial proportion sharing not only images but also their addresses on social media platforms. Alarmingly, our analysis of Instagram profiles shows that a considerable number of parents provide detailed location information, inadvertently facilitating potential dangers to their children: Every sixth Instagram profile with children's pictures we analyzed (16.3 percent) lists an address, e.g. home address or place of work of a parent. 45.0 percent name their place of residence.

These findings underline that social media's protection against child sexual abuse is inadequate. Efforts to raise awareness and promote responsible online behavior among both parents and children are imperative to mitigate these dangers and ensure the protection of vulnerable individuals in digital spaces.

Author

• Thomas Hestermann, Macromedia University, Hamburg