Save the Children's guide: depriving pedophiles of image material

Contents

The non-profit, international organization “Save the Children” has published a free guide for public institutions such as schools, kindergartens, and associations to raise awareness of how paedophiles misuse photos and videos of children published on the internet for their purposes. It explains how institutions can change their media work so that children and young people are better protected online. It also contains concrete examples of how pedo-criminals operate and which material they like to search for, comment on and process. Jugendschutz.net is involved in the guide as a cooperation partner.

It's just a nice photo!

Everyone who has criticized the publication of a child's photo online, for example among friends, has probably heard defensive phrases like these: “It's just a nice photo!”; “It's good fun!”, “It's totally harmless!”. This is exactly where Save the Children's guide comes in. What seems completely harmless to some, and is even considered shared joy, is new material for the abuse fantasies of others.

As Save the Children makes clear, so-called everyday images of children and young people are deliberately stolen from social networks and websites and uploaded to special internet forums by paedo-criminals. There they are “accessed, shared and commented on billions of times. This happens, for example, with sexualizing texts, sexual sounds or certain hashtags and emojis.” However, in times of easily accessible AI tools, paedophiles go one step further. They can use AI tools to make existing images look deceptively real. With deepnude generators or nudifiers, images of clothed children can be turned into nude photos with just a few clicks.

Jasmin Wahl, Head of Sexualized Violence at jugendschutz.net, explains: “The sexualization of images that show children and young people in everyday situations is a phenomenon that we have been observing for years when processing reports and researching – sometimes in drastic forms. New technological developments that make it possible to manipulate images and videos are exacerbating the problem. Raising awareness of the risks in institutions and organizations is therefore of great relevance”. Jugendschutz.net is the joint competence center of the federal government, the federal states and the state media authorities for the protection of children and young people on the Internet, which already drew attention to the deep nude issue in its latest annual report, among other things.

Thinking more about websites

In recent years, parents in particular have usually been made aware of the dangers of children's photos on the internet. However, Britt Kalla, an expert in institutional child protection at Save the Children Germany and author of the guide, emphasizes that paedophiles look for material wherever it is made available. As kindergartens, schools, after-school care centres, sports, and music clubs and other organizations now also have websites or social media profiles and are happy to upload advertising photos there, the guide (PDF) is now aimed at these institutions – and is intended to close a publicity gap. “We want to provide those responsible in institutions and organizations with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about which images they should and should not share. We also take a critical look at our publications – always with the aim of protecting children and their rights in the best possible way.”

The guidelines make one thing very clear at the outset: any image can be misused, no matter how harmless it seems from your perspective. It also lists the rights of children and young people that can be violated by recordings and their dissemination and then misuse: These include human dignity, the general right of personality, the right to undisturbed personal development or the right to protection of privacy and honor. Children and young people also have the right to their image, the right to informational self-determination and protection of personal data, as well as the right to protection of mental health and protection from abuse and exploitation.

As there are always people who believe that supposedly “harmless” images are of no interest to paedophiles, the guide lists examples of how such images are also misused, commented on and taken out of context. There is also a content warning for these descriptions in the guide. Illustrations of common online photo motifs are examined as examples of what could appeal to paedophiles. Two lists, one with four and one with twelve tips, then summarize recommendations on what institutions should look out for in photos of children (page 25). Another series of illustrations shows how photos and videos can be designed to make them less attractive to paedophiles.

Don't make children invisible, but protect them

According to Save the Children and Jugendschutz.net, the guide is not intended to make children and young people invisible on the internet, but to help them balance their rights to protection and freedom. In society, there are quite different views “on the necessity of portraying children in public”. The report presents three representative positions. For example, the Federal Criminal Police Office states on its website: “Images of children do not belong on the internet.” However, some institutions and organizations want to create photos and videos of and with minors because they “see children as an important part of society and want them to be respected and valued.” For them, this works best when children “remain visible and audible as rights holders and experts of their living environment.” Children's images and videos would also help to promote children's causes or organizations that represent them.

The third position is one that lies between the first two, according to the guidelines: The publication of photos and videos of adolescents is not rejected outright, but is considered on a staggered basis according to the need for protection. For younger children, the idea of protection is paramount. With older children and young people, it is assumed that self-protection skills have already been developed to deal with possible risks. Recommendations are formulated for this, as can be found in the guidelines.

(kbe)