Many netizens are joining “challenges” on Facebook.
In the past few days, several photos of girls, mostly young ones—babies, even, have flooded our Facebook news feeds as part of what the netizens call #dropyourbeautifuldaughterchallenge. But children’s welfare group Save the Children Philippines rings the alarm over this trend which they say may put children in danger of online sexual abuse and exploitation.
“Even if the images posted are not sexual in nature and content, there is still a risk that these can be used by online predators for untoward purposes,” emphasizes chief executive officer Alberto Muyot.
In 2017, the Office of Cybercrime of the Department of Justice received 45,645 tip-offs about sexual images of Filipino children from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“While we are proud of our children and would love to share beautiful pictures of them, let us be more cautious in joining online challenges that may jeopardize their welfare,” said Muyot.
“It would also help if we increase the safety and privacy setting of our social media accounts, as well as of our children’s, and build a safe digital platform for children where they can learn, have fun and socialize with real friends, neighbors, and family during the lockdown,” he added.
Wilma Banaga, child protection advisor of Save the Children Philippines, says it is important for parents and guardians to be careful about posting images of their children online because they cannot control how those will be used by others.
Save the Children Philippines is part of the consortium implementing the SaferKidsPH program together with the Asia Foundation and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
SaferKidsPH strongly advises against sharing of personal details or sending/posting sensitive information such as photos, phone number, credit card details, home address, and location of school to anyone met online or at any social networking sites.