Facebook and other social media networks like Twitter are being used by sex offenders to carry out their attacks on innocent Scottish children, including rape. What’s also disturbing is that according to an official report, many such crimes are not recorded by police.
Crimes not recorded by police due to location
An audit conducted by the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) discovered that 11.4% of sex crimes had a “cyber element,” but this percent hiked to 17.5% in some parts of the country. The audit also found that the majority of sex crimes involved social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Oovoo, Twitter and dating sites. Some of the most popular social media platforms used by children were “recurring vehicles for sexual crime,” concluded the report.
Rape, causing a child to participate in a sexual activity, sexual assault, causing a young child to look at a sexual image, communicating indecently, coercing a person into being present during a sexual activity, extreme pornography, and possession of child pornography were among the offenses committed by criminals. Many parents are aware of the need for internet restrictions and a child lock on their home PCs to protect their children, but the report said it was certain that most of the sex crimes targeted at young children were committed through apps on tablets and smartphones, notes The Telegraph.
As the crimes are committed by adults living elsewhere in the world, most of the incidents are not recorded by Scotland police, warns HMICS. The location of the crime is deemed to be the area from which the criminal sent the images or communication.
Facebook expanding program to fight harder against online crime
Meanwhile Facebook is planning to expand its program that gives free advertising to online activists who battle against online crime and hate speech. This is the most recent expansion done by the social media giant to undermine internet propaganda from far-right radicals and Islamist terrorists, according to The Wall Street Journal.
On Wednesday, the tech giant said that its Berlin-based Online Civil Courage Initiative, which was founded in January, will broaden from a pilot phase focused on the U.K., Germany, and France to offer money, marketing advice and advertising credits to a broader array of groups.
The tech giant said that the program had assisted organizations that use the social networking site to prevent extremist or hateful messages from reaching more than 2 million people with an overall $11,152 in advertising credits. The social networking site has pledged €1 million in credits over 2 years, notes the WSJ.
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