Current Event II

Hey, Little Girl Are Your Parents Home?
Digital image. Quickmeme. Web. 12 May 2014.

There is an interesting article in Fox News about how pedophiles are using Facebook to connect with each other, share pornographic media, and work together to find and exploit victims:

One of the scariest things about this is that these people are in plain sight on Facebook, even though Facebook has strict rules against abuse of children. There are many Facebook groups (more than 87, according to the article) that are devoted to promoting pedophilia. Many of the members of these Facebook groups are members of or support the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)  (www.nambla.org), which is a well-known and very controversial organization that supports pedophilia. There are a lot of postings that refer to the group’s website. There are even many photos of very young children. While the pictures on Facebook are not pornographic, it is disturbing to think of what these people are doing with these little kids.

Facebook and other social media provide an easy way for pedophiles and sexual predators to meet one another and exchange information. They even provide helpful advice to pedophiles that want to talk to children online. Once they trust each other, members of these groups can share illegal child pornography through a private communication service like Skype or Viber. There is little risk of being caught. Worse, they can assist each other in tricking children and gaining their trust in order to entice them into dangerous situations.

It seems that the technology we’ve developed to help people connect with friends and loved ones can also be used for more evil purposes. Is there anything that can be done about this without infringing on people’s freedom of speech and right to disagree? It seems to me that if those who would abuse innocent children can use technology to help with their harmful goals, then the good people who want to protect those children should be able to use that same technology to identify and expose those people to the light of day. As the saying goes, “sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

References

            Winter, Jana. (September 28, 2010). "Pedophiles Find a Home for Social Networking—On Facebook". Fox News. Web. <http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2010/09/28/pedophiles-find-home-social-networking-facebook/>.

Wortley, Richard & Stephen Smallbone. "The Problem of Internet Child Pornography". Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. Guide No.41 (2006). Web. <http://www.popcenter.org/problems/child_pornography/print/>.

                Delaney, Bill. “Pedophilia a Growing Problem Throughout Europe“. CNN Interactive. 26 August, 1996. Web.  < http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/26/german.pedophile/>.