We need a new kind of web privacy - Online child abuse

BEING kidnapped at gunpoint is far more dramatic and terrifying than being kidnapped by malign forces on social media but the nicety of that differentiation will offer little enough comfort to the parents of London schoolgirls Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, who have, it is reasonably believed, reached the IS-controlled Syrian town of Tal Abyad with the intention of joining the terrorist organisation. What their future holds can only be a matter of the gravest speculation.

That distinction — kidnapped at gunpoint or via chatroom — will not offer any great comfort to the millions of families right across Europe with children potentially as vulnerable, as gullible or as blind as the three teenagers from Bethnal Green Academy in east London. And, tragically, terrorist organisations are not the only online predators who represent a real and increasing threat to our children.

The EU’s police agency Europol warned yesterday that images of children innocently uploaded to social networking sites are being hijacked and sometimes manipulated to be sold to individuals with a sexual interest in children.

Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre warned parents that images of their children, birthday party pictures or happy holiday snaps, that they post online to share with family or friends are sometimes used by people for sexual purposes. One of the ways these pictures are pirated is to make network collages of “the most sexy four, five or six year olds”. This report reveals a shocking level of intrusive targeting and warns that even the most carefree and innocent images are used to the foulest ends.

The shocking report, and even in today’s hard-bitten world this level of attack on children is indeed shocking, also revealed that tech-savvy crime gangs are becoming more proficient at selling live streams of children involved in sex acts through legitimate chat sites and apps, such as Skype, for hard-to-trace virtual currencies like bitcoin.

Tellingly, the report warned that “no one had prepared” parents or children for the challenges posed by technological invasiveness, social network expansion, growing internet coverage and widespread mobile coverage. Like the three immature London teenagers arriving in Syria, most of us have absolutely no idea of the potential consequences of an innocent act and, as virtual life replaces what was once reality in so many cases, that threat becomes ever sharper.

And there’s the rub. The viability of the web depends on widespread and unfettered access — the very principle that makes our online world such a dangerous, almost unmanageable place. The Europol report, and the remote recruitment of the London schoolgirls, are two more indications that the idea of privacy, that construct designed to protect and maintain dignity, is obsolete. We should not underestimate this change or its psychological impact. If we are not to be driven from the web by those who so abuse it we need to develop a new set of conventions so its great, uplifting potential can be enjoyed safely by everyone — including our children.