Every seventh minor over 12 has sent an intimate picture or video to another person, with roughly one in five of the sent photos or videos being misused, according to a poll presented today by Vladimira Zackova, from cybersecurity firm ESET.
The intimate materials were published against the children’s will and caused them to become victims of manipulation, blackmail and bullying.
The poll was conducted by the Median agency for ESET and the Czech police.
“The online space enables experimentation and discovering one’s sexuality without any barriers, which is especially intriguing for young people. Sexting brings along risks they hardly ever recognize,” said psychologist Jarmila Tomkova. She cooperates with ESET on a program focusing on child safety in the online world.
The word ‘sexting’, a portmanteau of ‘sex’ and ‘texting’, refers to sending text, photographs or audio-visual content with a sexual subtext via communication technology, usually social media.
Minor girls send intimate pictures or videos more frequently than boys, usually to please their partners. About 15 percent of the girls said that they were pressured to send the intimate content or were manipulated into it. Another reason for sending such content is responding to a received picture; about one third of minors send the photos or videos as a flirting technique.
One fifth of children between 12 and 17 have experienced misuse of the content they had sent to someone. Experts say reasons for misusing the intimate content shared by children could include revenge, jealousy, or boasting about a partner to other people.
Jana Moravcova from the police criminal investigation department noted that offenders could face up to 12 years in prison for blackmail and publishing intimate pictures (also known as sextortion). Creating and spreading intimate pictures or videos (sexting) could be treated as producing and handling child pornography, which can be punished by up to eight years in prison.
The survey was conducted between 31 May and 12 June with a sample of 541 respondents between 12 and 17.
