Online Dangers for Children Up; Networking Sites Must Respond, Advocates say
Reports of online enticement of minors have multiplied in the past year due to increased media attention and more parent awareness, an official who tracks child exploitation reports said. A startling factor is 10% of minors enticed online have posted lewd photos of themselves, said Michelle Collins, dir. of the exploited children unit at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Collins spoke at the organization’s conference on social networking sites in D.C.
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Social networking sites and electronic service providers (ESP) are holding up their end of the bargain, said Collins, who runs a cyber tip line that fields about 1,500 reports of child exploitation each week. Sites and ESPs patrol for questionable content, reporting incidents and including links to NCMEC on the sites for parents and other users. About 1/3 of all online reports are coming from ESPs, she said.
New crime patterns involving minors have emerged on social networking sites, speakers said. Cyberbullying, in which members of a target’s social circle create a bogus profile about that youth, sometimes extending to slanderous and false material and even pornographic images, has upset schools nationwide, Collins said, with administrators required to report cases that caused conflicts. Sexual trafficking in minor also has insinuated itself into social networking sites, with pimps reaching out to girls whose profiles make them appear vulnerable, he said.
Predators use social networking sites to assess potential victims, said Arnold Bell, chief of the FBI’s Innocent Images Unit. IM conversations and blogs help them find easy targets, he said. Among 2,500 child sexual exploitation cases being worked by the FBI, some began in online social networks, he said, declining to elaborate. Bell lauded industry, saying MySpace in particular has aided authorities. “Our ability to function as a single entity is critical in deterring those who might prey on children,” he said: “State to state there are inconsistencies so we try to bring enough cases federally.”
But networking sites and ISPs have a duty to respond in timely manner to law enforcement inquiries, said Sgt. Steven Del Negro of the Mass. State Police Internet Crimes Against Children unit. Social networks need to expand data retention efforts, he said: “Data is captured by the company for a short period of time, and by the time we get the call that period has usually expired.” Law enforcement needs social networks’ offices to stay open 24 hours a day, he said. When authorities are pursuing a tip, such as a child blogging about potential suicide, closed offices could be detrimental, Del Negro said: “But we believe that legitimate companies want to do the right thing and most of them do.”
Police officials called for an age verification system to limit and identify potential predators. Site users older than 18 should have to register with a credit cards, Del Negro said: “Adults, on the other hand, could still open a child site but with more lockdowns in place, opportunities to communicate would be extremely difficult.”
It’s impossible to obtain data to verify teens’ ages, said John Cardillo, CEO of Sentry, an age verification technology provider. Verification technology uses driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, voting records and other public data, some of which minors don’t have, he said. No verification method should rest on credit cards, a model with too many holes, he added. “We as a society don’t look at teens as real people on the public record,” Cardillo said: “Simply, we can’t as an industry verify teenagers.”
Some participants suggested parental approval such as a PIN issued to parents for minors to access social networking sites. But parental approval mechanisms haven’t surveyed well, Cardillo said. Security concerns or no, people tend to dislike multiple layers, and ultimately social networking sites are trying to please customers, he said: “Security has to go in line with a good user end experience.”
MySpace, which next week will add new security and privacy elements, drew fire from industry for ignoring concerns about age verification and other issues (WID June 22 p4). The site was taking tips from industry experts at the conference and will be making more changes, Hermanshu Nigam, newly appointed chief privacy officer for Fox Interactive Media, which owns MySpace, said: “Age verification has to be part of a multi-pronged approach and we just haven’t found the solutions yet, but that doesn’t mean we have stopped looking.” Nigam said the site will examine technology that reminds children about safety concerns during online transactions. The site will create relationships with “safety champions,” teens who encourage safety among their peers. Challenges on social networking sites demand an “ecosystem” approach, Nigam said. Everyone in society needs to have a role in children’s online safety, including parents, teachers, law enforcement and legislators, he added.
Social networking site Xanga is implementing a rating system in an attempt to curtail offensive content, said CEO John Hiler. User profiles will get a group rating from “a” (all ages allowed) to “e” (explicit content). “We are seeing that the crowd is able to accurately rate content” and decide what’s age appropriate, he said. The site also is using a flagging system that helps users report explicit content with one click, without going through an extensive process.
Social networking sites are just the “flavor of the month” for official anxiety, Bell said. When the Web began, law enforcement focused on chat rooms and instant messengers, and now they're bracing for the next trend. The older generation is always behind the curve, Del Negro said: “We are the immigrants to the Internet and our children are the natives. We did not grow up with it, but we need to understand it and become involved in our children’s lives.” - - Megan Downs