Tech Expansion Drives Online Child Abuse

The growth of the digital economy, projected to hit $180 billion in revenues by 2025 as internet usage across Africa grows, has raised online safety concerns among users.

For young people, digital technology has created convenient platforms not only to connect with friends but also for entertainment purposes. Yet deep in the jungle of social media and other digital platforms lurks the danger of being abused and exploited by unscrupulous people.

Teenagers are especially targeted due to their young minds and gullibility. According to a survey by ChildFund International and Africa Child Policy Forum (ACPF), up to 13 per cent of minors online have been exploited or abused across Africa.

The report reveals that Kenya is a hotspot for sexual abuse of children aged between 12 and 17 years. It says up to 13 per cent of this age group surveyed in Kenya were threatened or blackmailed to engage in sexual activities online, highlighting how deep the vice has taken root with increased access to technology tools and the internet.

More than 22 million people in Kenya have access to the Internet, according to national data, and with increasing access to digital platforms, children online safety remains a sticky issue. Sexual abuse and exploitation involves production, distribution and possession of child pornography; online grooming of children; sexting; the sexual extortion of children (‘sextortion’); revenge pornography; commercial sexual exploitation; online child prostitution; and the live streaming of sexual abuse.

The report surveyed other African countries where around a fifth of children under 17 have received unsolicited online requests to talk about sex or sexual acts. The pervasive attitude that online crimes are not real crimes has created an atmosphere of virtual lawlessness.

Even more alarming is the extremely young age of many victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse. One survey showed more than 60 percent of unidentified victims were young children, 65 percent of them girls. For instance, up to a third of children aged 12-17 in Ethiopia and Mozambique shared personal information with strangers online. In South Africa, 19 percent of children aged 9-17 and 21 percent aged 15-17 in Uganda received unwanted online requests to talk about sex or sexual acts, while up to 13 percent of 12-17-year-olds in Kenya and Mozambique were threatened or blackmailed to engage in sexual activities online.

On average, seven percent of children shared sexualized images of themselves online, while one-third of 9-17-year-olds in South Africa and over a quarter of 12-17-year-olds in Mozambique went on to a face-to-face meeting after an online contact.

Chege Ngugi, Africa Regional Director at ChildFund International, says inadequate laws and services, including fledgling technology-based surveillance and underdeveloped digital forensics capacity have created a fertile ground for potential sex criminals.

Ngugi says technology companies should take decisive action in detecting, reporting, and swiftly removing child sexual abuse materials from their platforms. Researchers say a low capacity to investigate and prosecute online sexual exploitation in Africa creates a fertile ground for potential offenders.

Ngugi says tech companies can help in this by providing mechanisms of tracking down offenders are presenting them to authorities to face justice. “Tech companies in ICT industries should be held accountable for misuse of their platforms. They need to generate data and evidence and be able to convince governments and other stakeholders on how severe the situation is,” he says.

He said ChildFund and other stakeholders are educating law enforcement officers and parents on online safety. “The greatest risk is that exploitation of children is severe in Africa,” Mr Ngugi says. “Governments should take measures and creating awareness of the risks involved. Parents are overwhelmed with the rapid changes in technology.”

Kenya is one of the countries in Africa that has laws on sexual abuse of children, and the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) supports people to align with the law. Ethiopia is working on a policy to address the issue of online abuse and exploitation of children.