Social media expert targets child porn ring
The Digital Law Company says it's laying criminal charges against various social media accounts allegedly distributing child pornography.
This article contains information that may be distressing for readers*
"Criminal charges of crimen injuria, which is a serious infringement of dignity, non-consensual distribution of private sexual images and videos, non-consensual distribution of intimate content. In some instances, there were threats. In some instances, there was doxing, there was some extortion on the platforms as well,” says CEO Emma Sadlier.
A recent High Court order forced Meta to shut down around 70 anonymous Instagram Accounts and WhatsApp Channels publishing degrading content featuring minors.
Last week, the tech firm handed over the details of those behind the accounts to the Digital Law Company.
Sadlier says they took the matter on after receiving DMs from children who'd been named in so-called 'shade room' accounts.
"They were soliciting content over NGLA a link, which allows people to submit content anonymously and then creating these WhatsApp channels, which were getting huge following, very quickly.
READ: Life Westville Hospital cardiologist facing malpractice complaint
"It was child sexual abuse material, identifying children who they said had been sexually abused by a parent. That this one had an STI, this one had had abortions, this one had a body count - how many people they've slept with. Really damaging material."
Sadlier says it's important for parents to know which social media platforms thier children are using.
"If your kids have their phones next to them at night, firstly they're not sleeping because the addiction is just too big. And secondly, a lot of the nefarious stuff happens in the middle of the night. The reality is that the introduction of the WhatsApp channels makes WhatsApp inappropriate for children of all ages.
"So I was on these channels that were being created within a an hour that have 20,000 followers. So be very aware of WhatsApp channels. Anybody can create a channel.
"There's no identifying information whatsoever. There should be a mechanism to opt out of WhatsApp channels. There isn't, and it is so dodgy."
Find us on social media
Follow the ECR Newswatch WhatsApp channel here
