Policing Predators
December 14th, 2010 | by Jen |Paedophiles are brazenly sharing child pornography pictures and videos on Facebook, and internet safety experts believe the social networking site has failed to curtail the practice.
In an investigation, this website established that there are countless profiles and groups created by paedophiles – sometimes using their real names – who publish child pornography images and videos on the site.
Frustrated at the lack of action from Facebook, a group of concerned netizens from around the world, including at least one in Australia, have launched a vigilante group dubbed Social Network Safety Watch (SoNeSaW).
Most people use Facebook to network with, and seek out, people who have similar interests and the same applies to child predators, who use the site for validation and reassurance that their morbid fantasies are “normal”.
Paedophiles add a series of keywords to their profiles – such as “lolita”, “hussyfan”, “r@ygold” and “PTHC” (pre-teen hardcore) – which helps them find each other on the site using the built-in search feature.
“Thanks to my new friends for helping me realise that I am more normal than I thought I was,” reads a wall post by one user, who talks about abusing his “gorgeous” 10-year-old daughter.
“So this is where we let it all hang out and can finally talk openly and share with like-minded people.”
The user lists his activities as “daughters”, “lolitas” and “I love to play with my daughter”.
Facebook, which has to police more than 500 million users, cannot keep up with the child pornography trade on its site. Whenever its security team deletes a profile or removes images, they reappear almost instantly.
Rod Nockles, former director of safety at MySpace Australia and now a vice-president with e-safety education provider i-Safe, said Facebook and MySpace had failed to deal with child pornography because they did not resource their security teams adequately.