A mother distributes photos of her daughter in the street to everyone passing by. Additional moment of unease: she also bombards them with all kinds of information concerning her child (name, age, school, hobbies), without them having asked for anything. It’s a hidden camera, but it’s also the new campaign from the child protection association Caméléon. Called “Thank you”, she wants to make it clear that showing your children on social networks can expose them to predators. And that they know very well how to use new technologies to achieve their ends.
In addition to this short film, the communication also includes four posters in public transport. “This campaign addresses the issue of “sharenting” [contraction de « share », partager, et « parenting », parentalité]this trend and posting photos and videos of your child on social networks, presents Eglantine Cami, responsible for awareness and advocacy within the Caméléon association. The practice seems harmless, but in fact it presents risks of misuse for criminal and child abuse purposes. »
Personal information, extortion and AI
First, these public photos that appear innocent can be re-shared and directly sexualized. “On the forums, images that appear neutral are the subject of discussions between pedophiles to elect who is the sexiest girl, for example,” relates Eglantine Cami. Furthermore, these images are rich in information on the location, habits or tastes of children. Metadata can even reveal where and when the photo was taken. So much information that can be used by criminals.
With the rise of new artificial intelligence technologies, these photos can be diverted even further, by being used for deepfakes, where images of children will be affixed to pornographic videos. But also, Chameleon alerts, AI specialized in generating child pornography images can be trained on public photos of children. This Wednesday, the American media 404 reported that hack of AI chat platform showed hundreds of user requests to generate sexual content with minors
In an interview given on France InterGabrielle Hazan, head of the Juvenile Office, judicial police service, estimated that “in a few years, 95% of child crime images that will be disseminated on the Internet will come from artificial intelligence”. AI-generated content can also empower criminals who blackmail or extort minors by threatening to distribute nude photos that aren’t even real.
“The idea is not to make parents feel guilty”
The head of the Caméléon association finally notes the rise of encrypted messaging applications, such as Telegram, among the factors which increase the risks of cyberpedocrime. The phenomenon is increasing: in 2013, the Minors Office received 3,200 reports per year; in 2023, it was 870 per day.
Sharenting, too, like any digital practice, is increasing. According to figures shared by the Caméléon association, 53% of parents have already published a photo of their children, including 43% from birth. “The idea is not to make parents feel guilty, but to give them some clues: do we really want to share this photo? Is this harmful for my child?, explains Églantine Cami. You can also discuss your digital practices with your child, this is the first key to preventing violence. »
Towards better consideration of children’s rights
Caméléon also works at the European level to demand stricter regulation of certain aspects of tech, in order to allow better detection and reporting of child criminal content. The European Union was studying legislation on the issue, before putting it on hold in the face of the challenges to respecting private exchanges that it generated. The 27 should also agree on a framework for AI by 2026. And more broadly, the association wants better consideration of the rights of children, particularly their private lives, in the development of texts. For example, in France she welcomes the Studer law aimed at guaranteeing children’s image rights by linking it to the duty of parents, as well as the previous law governing child influencers. “Depending on their age and degree of maturity, the child’s opinion must be taken into account,” summarizes Eglantine Cami.