Men who commit sexual crimes against children have almost four times more likely to use meetings platforms That those who do not reveal a new study of the Institute of Global Global Security of Childlight.
According to the conclusions of the study, almost two thirds of men who have sexually assaulted meetings platforms, more than one in five perpetrators resort to everyone daily.
The investigation, carried out with a sample of 5,000 men in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, revealed that 11.5% of men asked admitted to having sexual feelings in relation to children and 11% of them confessed to having committed sexual crimes against minors.
These people were also questioned about the qualification of their online behavior as a practice of sexual abuse of children, Having one in nine men in the United States replied that yes, compared to 7% of men in the United Kingdom and 7.5% of men in Australia.
Researchers have classified the exploitation and sexual abuse of online children as Global “Pandemia”, Warning of the fact that it affects more than 300 million children every year.
These revelations arise at a time when the European Commission has already presented proposals to update the legislation on the sexual abuse of children by expanding the current legal framework to cover the detection of voluntary abuse.
A particularly controversial topic has been the potential digitalization of final -to -end communications. Currently, online companies may indicate illegal images under the temporal exemption of EU Electronic Privacy Law, But this exemption should expire in April 2026.
Professor Michael Salter, co -author of the report, said that meetings meetings lack adequate measures to protect children, which raises concerns about possibility that these gaps are explored by children’s abusers To see single parents and their children.
“There is no reason why the robust identification methods of the users we have in other sectors, such as banking and game, do not have to be adopted by meetings meetings,” he said.
“In the same way, there is a number of Tools and AI systems that may indicate problematic words and conversations And that can and should be used. “
Regarding the recommendations, Salter requested more rigid verification steps in meetings, including mandatory identity verifications, tools to detect predatory behaviors, such as an attractive language, but also means indicating suspicious messaging patterns.
“The exploitation and sexual abuse of children is a World Emergency of Public Health that requires emergency measures. To the new risks are emerging and the forms of protection have not been following the rhythm, “said Debi Fry, World Data Director at Childlight, who is also a professor at the University of Edinburgh.
Fry emphasized that Abuse is an avoidable and unavoidable phenomenon.
He also requested attention to “proactive prevention strategies that address the determining factors underlying abuse, including financial and technological ecosystems that support it,” he added.
The researchers warned about the fact that The main companies will benefit and participate in the perpetuation of sexual abuse Facilitated by technology, being traffic related to abuse also a source of advertising income.
ADVERTISINGThe report also concluded that men who have committed sexual crimes against children are more likely to have and use cryptocurrencies, as well as buy sexual content.
As for their socioeconomic context, experts concluded that A large part of men are considered reliable – Due to the fact that many have a high level of education, they live in homes where there are children or work in jobs where they are in contact with children.
