Social media photos increasingly found on pedophile networks: Dutch police

The Dutch police are finding more and more photos and videos on pedophile networks that were made by the children themselves and posted to social media, Lesley Linder of the police team combating Child Pornography and Sex Tourism said to newspaper AD.

According to Linder, some videos involve children as young as six years old, posted online without their parents' knowledge. Sometimes the videos show nude children running and playing, or a child exploring his or her own body. "The children grow up in a world of vloggers, selfies and iPads. Filming and being filmed is very normal to them, in combination with their sexual development, it creates a new kind of child pornography", she said to the newspaper.

People that create child pornography also trick kids into taking nude photos or videos of themselves by pretending to be their peers. For example, malicious adults target children on the chat features of games or on chat sites, according to Linder.

Nicole Tillie, police advisor on youth, thinks that this is another reason for the police to address the dangers of social media during consultations with municipalities and schools. "Even very young children can use an iPad, because they are so intuitive to operate. The fact is that digital development is making more and more child pornography available", she said to AD. Tillie wants media literacy as subject to be taught from an early age.