https://www.positive.news/society/anti-sextortion-campaign/
"Young people in Scotland have worked alongside the UK charity Crimestoppers to
create and star in a hard-hitting awareness campaign aimed at stemming the
growing problem of sextortion.
The crime involves people being tricked into sending intimate images of
themselves to online blackmailers, who then demand cash under threats to make
the pictures public.
Teens are particularly vulnerable to the sting, with multiple reports around
the world of people taking their lives as a result.
In the US, the number of global sextortion cases reported to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children more than doubled in 2023, rising to
26,718 compared to 10,731 the year before.
Boys are particularly at risk, with the Internet Watch Foundation revealing
that 91% of UK cases it dealt with in 2023 involved males. Three in five of the
reports it received were from 16 to 17-year-olds.
Crimestoppers’ youth service, Fearless, enlisted the help of teens to break
down generational language barriers for a series of reels that are being shared
across TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
The youths advised, for example, that while law enforcement agencies talk in
terms of ‘intimate images’, your average teen is more likely to refer to ‘dick
pics’, ‘nudes’ and ‘scuds’. They suggested using relatable language, fast-paced
messaging, and avoiding scare tactics.
Lyndsay McDade, Fearless Scotland manager at Crimestoppers, said she had worked
with youth groups across the country to find out about young people’s
understanding of sextortion, and establish what they would engage with on
social media."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
