07 Jan The Rise of Sextortion on Teens
With social media becoming more prevalent in today’s society, so are the dangers of sextortion. Sextortion is, “when a person is threatened that explicit images of themselves will be revealed if they do not meet certain demands,” (Thorn.org). Tactics used by predators are called “grooming,” which lures young, influential kids into meeting their demands. With more children and young adults having access to social media, video games, and the internet than ever before, sextortion is growing rapidly and increasing their risk of being taken advantage of. It is important to be educated on the issue, how to set safety precautions, and spread awareness to prevent more Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from creating more victims.
3.5-5% of people are believed to be victims of some type of extortion – especially girls – where extortion is more often sexual or relational than financial. There is an increase in boys and young men becoming victims of (s)extortion as well, especially those involved in high school sports teams or video game communities. At least 60% of people, if not more, are extorted by someone they know. This may be someone they talk to online, a friend of a friend, family member, a relational partner or ex partner, or even an online gaming friend. Half of perpetrators are from the online community, and ½ were victims of people they met online. Many perpetrators are youth and young adults. 90% of victims are 14-17 years old.
“In 2004, there were 450,000 files of suspected CSAM reported,” says Thorn.org, and, “in 2022, there were over 87 million files of suspected CSAM reported.”
Tactics Used by Perpetrators:
- Catfishing – pretends to be someone they’re not, starts an online relationship with the victim, begins “grooming”.
- Coercion – money/drugs in exchange for sexual material, (NCMEC).
- Threats – instills fear into the victim that if they don’t meet the demands of the perpetrator, their images will be spread to other viewers, like online or to friends and family. May threaten physical harm to the victim or their loved ones, or even spread lies about the child, like “false narratives,” (NCMEC). May use, “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” tactic, then threatens to share the images if the victim doesn’t meet a given demand.
- Initiation – Offenders often approach the victim initially, get involved in their life, and even stalk them on social media or in real life. They are likely someone the victim knows, like an ex-partner, family member, someone they think is their friend, and so on, (NCMEC).
- Demanding Payment – Cash App and gift cards are most commonly used as forms of payment from the victim to the perpetrator.
- “Sugar Baby” relationship – often formed as a type of extortion that the victims engage in. Perpetrator will provide financial support to the victim in exchange for meeting demands.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) – often used for extortion where the offender creates fake images of the child to threaten or spread to the public. Hacking may be used.
- Leveraging mental health challenges – especially with girls who may deal with self-harm suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, etc., used to continue extortion or may be caused due to extortion.
How Can We Help?
First, it is important to know how to respond when someone reports sextortion or someone you know has fallen victim to it. Victims may downplay the situation or retreat entirely if they feel ostracized or embarrassed by those who should support them. It is important to have empathy and avoid blaming or shaming the victim for participating in something that led to the (s)extortion.
There is a reason the number of victims have increased over the years. These perpetrators are GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO. They are EXPERIENCED and may have been (s)extorted themselves. Victims are misled, lied to, and coerced by these experienced individuals.
Actively participate in your children’s digital lives, conduct regular check-ins about online interactions, and set online/offline behavioral expectations (NCMEC).
Teach critical thinking skills. Discuss the difference between right and wrong, how to decipher what is safe and what is not, and what normal behavior versus threatening behavior/appropriate versus inappropriate behavior. For example, if a stranger texts a child and suddenly is interested in their personal life, like asking too many details about where they live, what they look like, who they have relations with, this is threatening, abnormal, inappropriate behavior. Especially if this behavior begins before much interaction has been made between the victim and perpetrator.
Don’t use fear-based messaging. They are not alone and it is not their fault. It is much more valuable for teens to understand why it is important to be cautious, rather than just to fear the potential outcome. They are more likely to live in a state of “that will never happen to me,” or, “I’m too smart for that,” if the potential outcome is more focused on instead of why these boundaries must be put in place. Teenagers are more likely to do something their parents tell them not to if it is taught out of fear, rather than for protection and for their understanding. Let them know they are loved NO MATTER WHAT.
Have conversations with your children about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Discuss expectations and values regarding sex and relationships. Pressuring someone and being pressured into uncomfortable or unsafe sexual behaviors are not okay. It is valuable to have open conversations with your kids before the issue is even on the table as something possible to happen. Talk with them about what to do, how to respond, who to tell, etc. Knowledge is power and having a plan ahead of time will give kids greater confidence in saying “no” or informing a trusted adult.
Help children understand they should never forward or share sexts they receive from others. This will limit the image’s likelihood of falling into the wrong hands.
Provide resources for victims to report. Tell kids to talk to their parents or other adults if someone is hurting or exploiting them or someone they know.
Empower your child ( https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/, https://tips.fbi.gov/home, https://www.missingkids.org/home, etc. Teach your child how to report someone, and remind them that sextortion is a crime, it is not their fault, and you are here to help them).
Take it Down is a resource for getting explicit images and content off the internet or preventing them from being shared through exploitation. https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a resource to report incidents of CSAM and other emergent incidents. Their emergency tip form is here: https://tips.fbi.gov/home
No Escape Room interactive film to see a video that displays an example of sextortion, the dangers of it, and why it is so easy for many kids to fall victim to CSAM. https://noescaperoom.org/
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a resource for those who need help staying safe or protecting children’s safety from CSAM. Plenty of resources of support, safety measures, and to report incidents. https://www.missingkids.org/home
Resources:
“Sextortion: What Parents Should Know.” NCMEC, 2024
National Children’s Advocacy Center – CTF Conference Bath Jackson, 2024.
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