Ever since the news of Malaysian pedophile Nur Fitri’s return to our country, there’s been an uproar online regarding the issue of whether pedophiles deserve a second shot in life as well as concerns about the safety of children in our community while these pedophiles roam free.
Unfortunately, the physical world is not the only place parents have to worry about at this point for the digital world may very well be far more dangerous.
Asia One has reported that there are a particular few hashtag parents use to showcase their kids on social media which pedophiles are tracking in order to find pictures of kids.
The Child Rescue Coalition has released a list of over 100 of the most commonly used hashtags by parents that should be avoided to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. Some of these hashtags include #diaperfree, #pottytime, #bathtimebaby, #nakedkids, #nakedbaby and so forth.
Source: AIFS
In conjunction with the ‘Kids For Privacy’ campaign, the organisation has created a set of guidelines that parents can follow in order to ensure the safety of their children in the digital world.
Firstly, before a parent is to share any images of their child on social media, they should ask themselves four simple questions,
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Why am I sharing this?
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Would I want someone else sharing an image like this of me?
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Would I want this image of my child viewed and downloaded by predators on the Dark Web?
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Is this something I want to be part of my child’s digital life?
There are also some precautions parents can follow when uploading pictures of their children online.
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Adjust privacy settings so that only your friends (not even friends of friends) can view your photos.
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Inform them not to post photos of your child without your consent. (As a responsible parent, avoid sharing photos of your friends’ kids without their consent as well, for example, pictures from birthday parties and so forth)
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Do not post pictures of your kids’ bath time/shower time, potty time, anything that involves the child being partially or fully nude.
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If your children have their own social media accounts, teach them the importance of and how to use social media safely and responsibly.
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Don’t tag the location of your children.
It’s disgusting that little kids are being targeted in such a crude manner but unfortunately, this is the world we live in – which is why it’s crucial that parents do their level best to ensure their kid’s safety.
If kids are not safe in the real world, and kids are not safe in the digital world, where will they ever be safe?
Also read: M’sian Shares Heartbreaking Story of Uncles Who Sexually Abused Her Underage Schoolmates
