Child Protection&Online Safety
28 August 2012
The worst job at Google: hunting for child porn, beheading videos Ars Technica
"Bestiality, necrophilia...body mutilations... explicit fetishes (like diaper porn)" are just a few of the things a Google employee saw while monitoring the company's products for unsavory content, according to a piece at BuzzFeed FWD. The employee says Google usually hires contractors to those positions, so workers are offered no benefits or emotional support to unwind from the twisted sights wrought by the Internet.
24 August 2012
South Korea's real-name net law is rejected by court BBC News
A law requiring South Korea's citizens to use their real names on websites has been struck down by a panel of judges.
22 August 2012
Web Sites Accused of Collecting Data on Children New York Times
A coalition of nearly 20 children's advocacy, health and public interest groups plans to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, asserting that some online marketing to children by McDonald's and four other well-known companies violates a federal law protecting children's privacy.
08 August 2012
Mobile pornography concerns among Pacific youth ABC News
The United Nations has warned there's growing evidence teenagers in the Pacific are making and accessing mobile phone pornography.
06 August 2012
Child Porn Ring Uncovered Using Stuffed Toy Bunny Huffington Post
The men came from different walks of life on two continents: a children's puppeteer in Florida, a hotel manager in Massachusetts, an emergency medical technician in Kansas, a day care worker in the Netherlands. In all, 43 men have been arrested over the past two years in a horrific, far-flung child porn network that unraveled like a sweater with a single loose thread.
02 August 2012
In Virtual Play, Sex Harassment Is All Too Real New York Times
When Miranda Pakozdi entered the Cross Assault video game tournament this year, she knew she had a slim chance of winning the $25,000 prize. But she was ready to compete, and promised fans watching online that she would train just as hard as, if not harder than, anyone else.
31 July 2012
Child porn cases on the rise: Canadian cops Ottawa Sun
Ottawa police are seeing a dramatic increase in cases involving child pornography - and the Internet-fuelled crime is only expected to become more prevalent.
28 July 2012
Study finds sexting may be a new normal behaviour Daily Telegraph [AU]
Sexting may now be just another part of dating for young adults who have grown up with smart phones and social media, a study has found.
11 July 2012
Anonymous has a new target: Paedophiles ZDNet
Over the weekend, the hacktivist group Anonymous apparently grew tired of pedophilia and decided to launch Operation PedoChat (#OpPedoChat). Several websites used by pedophiles to trade questionable images and videos of children have already been taken down.
06 July 2012
More Than a Quarter of America's Teens Sext Mashable
More than a quarter of teens have shared naked pictures of themselves through text or email, according to a new study. About 31% of teens have asked someone for a "sext."
Internet porn is making teenage relationships more violent says UK's top law chief Daily Mail
Teenage relationships are becoming increasing violent due to the prevalence of internet pornography, the country's top prosecutor has warned.
04 July 2012
Hundreds of paedophiles found in global sweep Al Jazeera
Hundreds of paedophiles prowling on the Internet have been identified in an operation in 141 countries, Austrian federal police said.
29 June 2012
Online pornography: opt-in system planned to protect British children Daily Telegraph [UK]
Internet users would have to actively "opt-in" to view pornographic or harmful content when they sign up for broadband or buy new mobile phones under plans favoured by David Cameron.
28 June 2012
Half of the world's kids fear the online bully, report says Los Angeles Times
In the laundry list of universal kid fears -- monsters, nightmares, kidnappers, mean big kids -- we may soon be able to add cyberbully.
27 June 2012
Technology is giving abusers the edge The Guardian
If we want to protect girls and women from predators and abuse, we must keep pace with new technologies and media
15 June 2012
Habbo Hotel: NSPCC urges government and technology industry to act The Guardian
The technology industry and government should do more to protect young internet users from potential abuse, the NSPCC has warned in the wake of revelations about highly sexualised content on Habbo Hotel, a virtual world popular with children and teenagers.
13 June 2012
Access to online porn 'twisting children's view of sexual norms' The Guardian
Children are being encouraged to take part in sexual activity by exposure to hardcore pornography on their mobile phones, the deputy children's commissioner sayssaid yesterday.
10 June 2012
Facebook and children: With appropriate safeguards, children should be allowed to use social networks The Economist
In its early days, Facebook was a hangout for college students searching for hot dates and cold beer. Now the social network is open to all ages -- except, in theory, the under-13s. Children need protecting from online bullies, cyberstalkers and inappropriate pictures, runs the logic. The problem is that the under-13s can enroll on Facebook simply by lying about their age. Some of them, parents will be shocked to hear, have actually done so: 5.6m in America alone, by one estimate. The current safeguards are as effective as a "Do not pilfer" sign on an unguarded cookie jar. It is time for a rethink.
09 June 2012
Child Porn Bust: 18 Children Saved, 190 Predators Arrested, US Feds Say Huffington Post
A joint effort by two federal agencies netted a massive number of alleged child predators.
04 June 2012
Facebook Explores Giving Kids Access Wall Street Journal
Facebook Inc. is developing technology that would allow children younger than 13 years old to use the social-networking site under parental supervision, a step that could help the company tap a new pool of users for revenue but also inflame privacy concerns.
24 May 2012
Google rejects UK government automatic pornography block rules BBC News
Proposals to force users to opt-in to access adult content would be "a mistake", Google has said.
23 May 2012
New Zealand helps bring down child porn ring New Zealand Herald
New Zealand investigators built up trust with people sharing child sex abuse photos on social networking sites, sparking a global clampdown that has removed 12 children from harm, including one Kiwi.
22 May 2012
Online child abusers run for 'dark net' cover The Australian
Pedophiles are turning to the so-called "dark net" to transmit and exchange child pornography online, using increasingly sophisticated encryption methods to defeat police.
17 May 2012
Children abused 'to order' on Skype The Australian
Online pedophiles are paying to have children in overseas countries sexually abused according to their preferences in an alarming development police have dubbed "made-to-order" child abuse.
16 May 2012
ORG: Mobile filters censor innocent content BBC News
Pornography filters on mobile phones are "censoring" normal web content, according to the Open Rights Group.
