So a video posted on youtube shows what is called a “wormhole” into an environment where users post sexually suggestive comments on otherwise innocent videos of young girls. YouTube and companies that advertise with it are coming under fire after one of the video-sharing site’s users showed how the platform can apparently be used to bolster child exploitation.
User MattsWhatItIs posted the video late Sunday night. It quickly went viral, garnering nearly 600,000 views within 14 hours.
In the video, MattsWhatItIs claims to have discovered a “wormhole” leading to “a softcore pedophile ring.” The videos typically feature young girls engaged in activities such as yoga, gymnastics or other day-to-day activities. Comments in many languages along the lines of “beautiful goddess” and “beautiful video Barbie” are common, as are suggestions for what the girls could do in future videos. The vast majority of the comments stop short of being sexually explicit.
Technology expert Claudiu Popa would like to see YouTube and other social media platforms allocate more resources to filtering out inappropriate content and teaching their users about the consequences of using their services.
“There needs to be more investment in filtering; there needs to be more investment in prevention and in education,” he told CTVNews.ca Monday.
Popa is the founder of the KnowledgeFlow Cybersafety Foundation, which works with teachers and schools to promote cybersafety. He said parents should not use social media “as a babysitter” and always be aware of what their children are doing online, without watching every keystroke.
“You don’t necessarily want to be watching everything that they’re constantly typing … because they’re just going to burrow deeper,” he said.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection maintains the
Protect Kids Online website, which offers advice for parents seeking more information about dangers children may face by using the internet and social media. Source techcrunch.
