This is a series of reports and talks with minors regards to the safety of the online world. Every week, we have new tips, interviews, and insights for our campaign.
Introduction from 2019
Sitting down in one of Iloilo’s famous coffee shops, I drummed my fingers on the table waiting for the glass doors to open and look at the people I was supposed to meet. Damn me for going underground again.
It’s all for research and interview, I muttered. Journalism’s sake if you must say. When was the last time I did this? If I need to understand people’s self-managing online behaviors, I need to deliberately talk to these individuals myself.
The pervasiveness of social media, adult sites, and dating apps have become a wide venue for exploitation encounters between two parties. It introduces an opportunity for singles and couples to hold one-night affairs or long-term FUBU meet-ups.
Nonetheless, it also opens up a risk for men who have intercourse with men (MSM) and a range of diseases one can get caught with a partner. In order for me to understand the driving factors and allure of this underground world, I need to go and chase these people and know their risky behaviors with online interventions.
(2019) The Young’uns
Note: I actually offered to chat with them through another site, but it was intercepted as illegal by that site itself. I did not push them to meet me in person and I relayed to them that I’ll be making an article about youth and online adult dating already beforehand.
It is deeply noted that there teens and minors present in adult sites which caters to sexual dating. I created a fake account in one site and narrowed my search down to Iloilo City.
To my surprise, I saw teens, girls, and boys no more than 16 years old baring their bodies to the world. They placed their ages to 18 and 19, though. I followed them back to their Facebook accounts and I can say that they’re legit people. It’s a major flaw in online dating where minors can simply change their personas to look and sound like an adult.
That’s why I chose to be here. To talk to these people and think of interventions that could help address these issues.
I looked up at the clock. It was 3:15PM. My first meet up would arrive soon.
I met *Lisa just past 3:30PM. She had a small-framed body with a shy demeanor. I remembered our conversation on the web: she wasn’t the type to post nudes of herself and leak them on the site and Facebook. She actually grew up in a religious and well-cultured family. Her good girl persona on the outside actually pushed her to do something risky. She was able to get away with it, and that led to an addiction to playing a façade of niceness while being a minx and a gank herself.
Lisa, 20, said she didn’t want to meet anyone outside the site. But she said meeting me was the first time she had anyone on the site talk to her like a normal person. Then again, intercourse was not on my mind.
We met *Dave later about 30 minutes later. He was younger than us, a bulky college student tackling school and assignments. Then we began the interview.
“What was the foremost reason you joined the site?” I asked. “Were you pressured or do you have any problems you need to let out through online dating and meet-ups?”
“For me, I want to try this,” Lisa started. “I’m curious. While these people don’t know you, you feel satisfied for them to want you. There were no problems {in my family}. I just want to join. Also, {it’s because} you’re looking for companionship in others even if it’s a chat or text.”
Dave also shared his insights, “For me, you know, we grow up. We have these feelings and needs,” he explained. “You feel embarrassed to share it with other people, so, you look for like-minded individuals to talk to you about it.”
“When did you first sign up for the site?” I inquired.
“For a while now, but I’m not that active,” Lisa said.
“Mine was one to two years,” Dave replied. (This article was first published in 2019).
How old were you when you joined the site? Lisa looked at me, embarrassed about letting me know when she first started using the dating channel. She wrung her hands and gave a timid laugh before answering.
“Ahhh! This is hard. But, I’m not that active,” she minced her words.
“Same for me,” Dave replied. “Whenever there is.”
I gave my head little cock on the right, before waving my hands to say, “So, meaning, you were below age?”
Both nodded.
“So, what happens if you got discovered on the site as minors?” I asked.
Dave said, “Pwede pero daw imposible! (Possible, but it’s impossible!). Lisa explained that a minor can use other people’s photo or an avatar and can change the age and birthdate, so, they won’t get caught.
“And even if you have been banned, you can always sign up again with a different email, face, and age,” she mentioned.
“Is it unfair that you’re using other people’s photos?” I inquired. They both shrugged and said they’re using foreigner’s photos – those non-royalty and stock images found on the internet for free.
“Have you met up anyone on the site for some – action?”
Lisa shook her head and said she didn’t want to meet with anyone from the site. She mentioned she found it alright to just chat, text, and send body photos to her text mate. Meanwhile, Dave met other members on the site when he was 16.
“Others claim they’re 20 years old or older, but it’s quite obvious that they’re still minors,” he said.
As Lisa was more into text and chat, Dave had more experiences.
“Since we’re on that topic, were you even afraid of contracting HIV?” I asked.
“We make sure that we’re disease and drugs free before we meet,” he replied.
“I saw members filming themselves when doing the act. Did you also film yourselves?” I continued.
“Yes, when we had a three-way. Filming and publishing on the hub (the website) prove you’re a legit member and more people will contact you to meet,” he said.
“Do you think people can download your videos?”
“If you’re a VIP member, I think you can? Otherwise, you’re just allowed to see regular photos of people on the site,” Dave laughed.
“What are the chances that they’ll leak the videos and photos of you?”
“I made sure not to include my face or to blur it out. But even so, it’s scary if the person you were with was the one leaking the videos! I know a girl in our school whose photo was leaked on Facebook on a guy’s timeline!”
“What did you do about? Did you even continue being on the site and meeting with people despite it already happened to someone you knew?” I asked.
We ended the interview with light talks and small banters until it was time for us to part ways. My interview was far from over because I had yet to talk to the “adults” in the site.
However, there are a couple of things in my mind with minors on social media or dating sites.
1.) The age of sexual consent in the Philippines is at 12 years old – among the lowest in the world. Solons might want to push it to 16 years old, but child’s right advocates safest bet is at 18. Too many sexual abuse and online exploitation happen and perpetrators get away with it because of this old law. Even if I have to say it –
2.) Consent is consent. No matter what age. And people who abuse that consent should answer to the (sadly broken) law (but, still).
3.) When a 15 or 16-year old person gives consent to filming their sexual activities and publishing it online (themselves), that’s a recipe for disaster. What happens when someone downloads it and disseminate it online on social media sites? It happens a lot.
I traced some social media videos and minors’ porn to this dating site. That’s where I found Lisa and Dave. If one of them filmed themselves during their hard play and uploads it on the site to see, do you think it’s alright to just disseminate it to social media sites?
Number one: the dating/hooking site is encrypted with passwords and VIP locks for special members. These special members have to pay P2,000 to view photos and videos of people…doing it. And a lot of Pinoys pay up to watch and download the content. Which brings us to say:
4.) Why would anyone upload their photos and videos online just to have people disseminating it sooner? I saw the site has photos and videos that make you a legit person online. Having those can open up the opportunity for more one-night stands in the future. Oh, and you can leave a review on the performance too.
5.) Adults are adults. We can’t blame them for being on the site – I mean, it’s really meant for them. Likewise, what if a person downloads and shares these files as well? I’ve seen comments online saying, “Can I have your picture?” “I want to &^#( it” Last thing you know, they’re all over social media group chats.
2020 new normal on exploitation
Bata Ako Ph supports OSEC campaign to ensure that children remain safe from numerous threats when using the internet. The next topic is on the online sexual exploitation of children during the quarantine.
Pinoys are the top users of social media usage which leaves room for peddlers to sell child sexual videos from abusers. We’ve seen Facebook pages and groups, and Twitter feeds of people asking for videos of minors.
This marks a 1,300% increase from the previous year. A UNICEF study also showed that 1 in 5 Filipino children are vulnerable to OSEC. Boys are found to be as vulnerable to OSEC as girls, according to the same study.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, alarming findings on OSEC have already been reported. According to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 2018 alone, at least 600,000 child sexual abuse materials from the Philippines were reported to have been shared and sold online.
According to Plan International, the Philippines hangs on as a Tier 1 country according to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. There was an increase in training, availability of protection and assistance for victims, and improving preventive efforts to curb the issue. However, through the years, there are still so many Filipino children being exploited on the net.
UNICEF states reasons why there’s easy access to exploitation in the Philippines:
- Involvement of the child’s family because of poverty.
- OSEC as an income. Videos can be sold online cheaply for P100 to P300.
- Prevailing usage of Filipinos on social media (Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat).
- Filipinos can speak English well, thus, allowing for more foreigners to entertain them.
- Lack of parental supervision
- Lack of knowledge or resources to prosecute perpetrators
Who’s to blame, how to refer? Who’s to call or go to?
In a report from Rappler, in October 2019, DSWD mentioned that ISP servers should report to the PNP and NBI for knowledge of child exploitation over their servers. Is that even easy to looking over millions of URLs and pages over the servers?
Meanwhile, there’s no known law that covers OSEC such as recruitment, the participation of the perpetrator and of the child involved, and the penalties served.
There are pending bills in Congress to strengthen the campaign against child abuse such as OSEC, minimum age of sexual consent, and anti-child pornography law of 2009. But we all know they’re prioritizing something else.
The recent National Baseline Survey on Violence Against Children (NBS VAC) in the Philippines, reported that about 2.9% of children have their own nude body or own sexual activities shown via the internet or mobile phone, 28% have been presented images of sexual activities of other people, and 35.4% have received sexually charged, negative, foul words or messages.
On the other hand, the Department of Justice’s Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) reported receiving 37,715 cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2016, which grew to 45,645 in 2017, while the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported 172 cases of child pornography in 2017, up from 62 cases the previous year.
Additionally, a more recent cursory mapping of laws, which include Anti-Child Pornography Act (RA 9775), Anti-Child Abuse Act (RA 7610), the Child and Youth Welfare Code (Presidential Decree No. 603), Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (RA 9262), Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 (RA 9995), Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175), Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 (RA 10364), and Free Internet Access in Public Places Act of 2017 (RA 10929), resulted in the need for congressional oversight of all relevant laws to review their level of efficacy based on the challenges of the time.
These laws have several gaps that make it difficult to prosecute OSEC cases. These gaps include the lack of clearly-defined rules delineating the obligations of social media networks (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), Internet cafes/kiosks or lessors of business establishments, banks, money remittance centers and credit card companies in relation to shutting down OSEC.
There is also a clear need to strengthen the capacity of government authorities to implement OSEC-related laws and ensure that crimes are investigated and perpetrators are punished accordingly.
Findings during lockdown and post-quarantine cases
According to the DOJ, online sexual exploitation of children increased to 264 percent just between March 1 and the end of May. The lockdown has let pedophiles and perpetrators take advantage of the technology in streaming live videos of children online.
In an interview, *Riza, a social worker in Jaro, said that many of these abusers are fellow members of the family.
“They usually do this out of poverty,” she mentioned. “In families where the children are many (especially young girls), they use them as tools for earning money.”
Child exploitation is often done in the streets and via the dark web. However, perpetrators take daylight crime to a height when they peddled child porn via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook groups with coined words such as “Bastos” or “Manyak” often practice video calls with live young girls getting nude or doing it in action with a much older guy. They even have a private group chat for streaming these videos as well.
And yes, it’s child porn.
Now that country eased on lockdown, child traffickers are back on the streets. Yet, they find that it’s not that lucrative as to showing it on social media sites.
“On Facebook, the transaction is much easier and faster,” Riza said.
Among a few things Bata Ako Ph saw on the web and on dating sites:
Speaking about dating sites: Some people will risk going out for a hookup or orgy party
Bata Ako Ph has received some startling news that some Ilonggos are meeting with strangers to hook up despite the quarantine. The exchange happens in Viber due to a lively community talking about parties, orgies, or threesomes.
While the site mostly caters to adults, there are minors joining or initiating lewd parties.
For parents who are concerned
Here’s how to keep children safe predator baits
The development of the Internet has undoubtedly made our lives easier. While it is convenient, it also comes with a lot of hidden dangers, especially for children. As we all know, everyone can be anonymous in cyberspace. On the Internet, people can hide their real identities and pretend to be someone else they’re not.
Perpetrators may take advantage of this that poses a risk to children and teens when left unsupervised online.
What is an online predator?
Online predators are the greatest threat to children’s safety on the Internet. These individuals usually lure and exploit youth on the Internet for doing sexual and other harmful acts. They target children and adolescents who regularly use the Internet, because they’re often are more curious and easy to convince.
What’s more, predators gather personal information of victims on chatting websites and social networking sites to recognize potential behinds. They will then hide behind a believable identity and often act friendly and harmless until they get the trust of their victim.
It usually starts with sexual conversations and exchanging malicious pictures and encouraging the child to do the same. It could then lead to threatening and blackmailing and things that would make them agree to what the perpetrator wants. Once they get the full trust of the victim, they would request for face-to-face meetings that then escalate the danger of the situation.
Examples of online predator tactics
Online predators almost use all resources to commit a crime and lure their victims. Once a child accesses the Internet, it exposes them to the dangers of real people committing heinous cybercrimes.
Since it is hard to recognize online predators, it is better to note their similarities in characteristics. An online predator would:
- Relate to their victims and make them feel special.
- Hold conversations in private to exchange information that they can use to threaten and blackmail.
- Ask for personal information, such as the child’s name, address, and the school they attend.
- Request for pictures, video chat, and eventually to meet up in person.
- Offer gifts and money, and pressure the child to do something in the guise of support.
Here are three of the most prevalent tactics of online predators in coercing children to engage in their advances:
Phishing
It starts with seemingly harmless questioning. But with phishing, online predators will follow these with specific questions that would let them deduce the victim’s location. Aside from their names, they will also try to ask where their school is or nearby places.
A subtle question of the weather can allow them to piece this information together. They can narrow down the location of the child into a specific area. As such, it becomes possible for them to meet the child.
Mirroring
With this tactic, the perpetrator would break the emotional barriers of the child. They would try to relate to what the victim is feeling. If the victim feels lonely, they would mirror that emotion and will use words that would make the victim let their guard down.
It could be simple words such as, “I understand you,” “I can be your friend,” or “You can trust me.” By playing back the emotions of the victim, it makes them trust the perpetrator.
Grooming
Grooming is a process when an online predator prepares a child to be a victim without them knowing. They find pleasure in the hard work of gaining the trust of the child. They would develop relationships with the victim by whatever means, such as emotionally or with gifts.
This tactic is especially effective for teens and children who have an unmet emotional need. Once the victim is entirely under the perpetrator’s clutches, that’s the time when they will act on their urges.
How can children be safe online from predators?
If your child regularly uses the Internet, it is vital to take preventive measures to keep them safe. As early as now, you have to learn the warning signs of what an online predator is. It is crucial to teach kids to always keep their guard up whenever they’re online.
Here are some guidelines on how you can keep your kids safe away from online predators.
- Look for warning signs and behavior changes that an online predator is targeting your child. It includes being secretive with their online activities, hiding their screens, receiving texts and calls from strangers, etc.
- Make sure to install security software on your computer to monitor suspicious activities, such as questionable sites and downloads.
- Set boundaries and guidelines on your child when using the Internet.
- Remind your child not to give out any personal information online.
- Set all their photos and information on social media to ‘friends only’ or to private.
- Tell them not to enter private chat rooms.
- Be aware of who they’re talking to online.
- Be mindful of the warning signs that may point to the tactics that online predators use on children.
If you think an online predator is targeting your child, seek immediate help from authorities. Call your local police department and inform them about your concern.
*Change of names to protect the identity of the individuals
This is an ongoing piece on OSEC. Watch out for more articles, information materials, and stories from us.
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