The majority of cybercrime victims are under 20.Image: Shutterstock
Young people and children are the most frequent victims of cyber sexual crimes, which are constantly increasing, including blackmail using real or AI-falsified intimate photos and videos.
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Mia* has long since stopped counting the number of dick pics – photos of penises – she’s been sent unsolicited on Instagram or Snapchat. But she still remembers how old it all started:
“When I was thirteen”
Today, she is 17 years old and knows from her own experience and that of her friends how quickly one can become a victim of cyber sex crimes. Mia was once filmed without her knowledge by her ex-boyfriend during sexual acts. She only found out when he sent her the video a few days later without her asking.
Even today, she doesn’t know what he did with it. For fear of the consequences, she didn’t dare do anything to resolve the situation. Because it could be even worse – one of her friends can testify to that.
“A friend sent intimate photos to a guy she trusted. After they had a fight, he just posted the images on his Instagram and Snapchat stories.”
The world then fell apart for her friend.
Sextortion is on the rise
Women like Mia or her friend are by no means the only ones who have these experiences and fears. In 2023, 2,611 cyber sexual offences were recorded in Switzerland. 85% of the victims were under 20 years old. The number of unrecorded cases is probably even greater: according to a study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Zhaw), one in two teenagers has already been sexually harassed online.
The Federal Council also recognises the importance of the problem: in January 2023, it stated in a report that cyber sexual offences should be better recorded and that various information measures should follow, among other things within the framework of the national “Young People and Media” platform of the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO).
This Monday, the Swiss Child Protection Association launched a first national awareness campaign, in collaboration with the OFAS, the Swiss Crime Prevention (PSC) and other partners.
Under the slogan “What you share online, you share with everyone. Protect what is important to you”, the actors involved are committed to ensuring that children and young people are protected against online sexual offences. The campaign and the accompanying measures were developed for a period of three years. In 2024, it will focus on the theme of sextortion and images modified by artificial intelligence. Offences on the rise.
According to the advice and information center clickandstop.cha joint project of the Child Protection Association and the Guido Fluri Foundation, sextortion already accounts for “almost half of all counseling sessions.” The term refers to a form of blackmail carried out using intimate photos and videos.
Regula Bernhard Hug is committed to protecting children and young people on the Internet. Image: kinderschutz.ch
“This problem is now being exacerbated by artificial intelligence, which allows racketeers to quickly and easily transform harmless everyday images into sexual images,” explains Regula Bernhard Hug, head of the secretariat of the Swiss Child Protection Association. Such cases of images falsified by AI are also said to be increasingly common in counseling interviews.
Delete images from the web
Intimate images created by artificial intelligence are so realistic that relatives often do not realize they are not real. For example, a father was sent pornographic images and videos of his daughter.
“The perpetrators blackmailed him by telling him that they would publish the images of his daughter if he did not pay money. But what the father did not know was that the images had been doctored and created by an AI.”
Regula Bernhard Hug
The face was stolen from photos of the girl in social networks, the naked body was created by AI. So the blackmail material represented a scene that never existed.
In a case like this, Regula Bernhard Hug advises to contact the police immediately.
“Many people pay the criminals because they are emotionally moved. But the perpetrators will never stop and will continue to demand money and make threats – until we go to the police.”
Regula Bernhard Hug
It is advisable to block contacts on all channels, but keep evidence such as chat history for the police. The same goes for intimate photos or videos that were not created by AI.
In order to remove nude photos from the web or prevent their distribution, the police are working with telecommunications service providers, explains Regula Bernhard Hug. Affected minors also have the option of contacting the non-profit organisation National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. On their website Takeitdown.ncmec.orgthose affected can use an online service to delete images that were taken when they were minors.
With this tool, victims can report photos or videos with which they are at risk of being extorted. The website does not, however, download these files – they remain on the victim’s device – but creates a digital fingerprint, a kind of code, which is shared with secure online platforms. If a site or app then discovers that the code is identical to an image or video uploaded to the app, it can block publication or delete the post.
Prospects for success against perpetrators
Mia’s friend went to the police and filed a complaint because her ex had posted her intimate photos on social media. “There was a trial and the guy was convicted. He also had to delete the photos,” she says. Often, however, things don’t come to that.
“The chances of bringing the perpetrators to account and recovering the money already paid are relatively low,” writes the Swiss Crime Prevention (SCP) on its website. Nevertheless, all cyber-sexual offences should be reported. The SCP writes:
“This is the only way for the police to obtain information about the extent of the crime, to establish links and, if necessary, to find investigative opportunities. Overcome your shame and realize that the police punish crimes, not human weaknesses.”
*Name known to the editorial staff
Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci
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