With students back in school, police have a message for young people: Kia whakaute... respect your mates, don’t share their nudes.
“We are seeing an increase in reports of young people sharing nudes online of their friends, other young people from their schools or teens they don’t even know,” Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards of the Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (Oceanz) team says.
These images, when shared on social media platforms, get reported to the United States-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) as they are identified on these platforms as child exploitation material, which is illegal to produce, possess or distribute.
NCMEC provides that information as a cyber tip notification to New Zealand police, Department of Internal Affairs or Customs Service to investigate.
“While we advocate young people don’t share naked images of themselves, we know it happens,” Kepal says.
“If you receive a nude of another young person, don’t be part of the cycle and post it somewhere else.
Delete the message, be kind, and think about how you would feel if the image was of you”.
“We know that when a young person discovers a naked image of themselves has been sent to often large numbers of their peers it can have a significant detrimental effect on their mental health.”
The Oceanz team receives multiple NCMEC cyber tips each week.
These are reviewed by investigators and appropriate action taken on a case-by-case basis.
Action taken by police can range from a welfare visit to the young people involved, discussions with school staff or in some cases it may be appropriate charges be considered, depending on the type of material and the circumstances in which they were produced or distributed online.
WHERE TO REPORT OFFENDING:
NEW ZEALAND POLICE
-105 (non-Emergency)
-111 (Emergency)
Netsafe
-Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282
-Email: help@netsafe.org.nz(link sends e-mail)
-Call us toll free on 0508 Netsafe (0508 638 723)
-Online report form at netsafe.org.nz/report
-Our helpline is open from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am – 5pm on weekends.
- SunLive
1 comment
Modesty...
Posted on 31-07-2024 14:42 | By morepork
... is an archaic word now and it isn't just about being self-effacing. We are evolving our society to minimize tiresome attributes like respect, consideration, manners, and even kindness.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being naked; I have lived in societies (Germany, Nordic countries...) where they don't have inhibitions about it. (They also have much lower sex crime than we do.) But that doesn't mean that everyone walks around with nothing on; rather, it is accepted that seeing yourself and others naked is no big deal. Saunas and Public showers accommodate men and women without swimsuits and there is no problem.
The keyword here is "exploitation". We need to teach our kids it is OK to be naked but NOT to do so for OTHER PEOPLE'S gratification, or so THEY can make money out of it.
The international co-operation on this is admirable.
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