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SOCIAL NETWORKS AND INTERNET-FACILITATED CHILD EXPLOITATION: A Review of Existing Material and Call for Research

by:

Tejwantie Ramdass

A Capstone Project Submitted to the Faculty of

Utica College

April 2016

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Masters of Science in Cybersecurity

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iii

Abstract

The purpose of this capstone project is to research how the advancement of the Internet,

mobile technology, and social media contributes to the online exploitation of adolescents. This

study includes an in-depth look at the existing literature on Internet-facilitated child exploitation

(CEP), the features, and trends in social networks that contribute to cyber exploitation, and the

gaps in research that currently exist. This research was designed to provide an understanding of

online child exploitation today and bring attention to the need for further research that is focused

on how the latest forms of social networking relate to child exploitation. Social networks like

Facebook, Snapchat, and Whisper are some of the most popular venues of social networking

today. They provide a wealth of opportunity for creating and maintaining relationships.

Unfortunately, they also facilitate the potential exposure of vulnerable adolescents to online

offenders. As the cyber landscape continues to evolve, research measuring the influence social

networks have over CEP is imperative. Unfortunately, recent material examining the latest

forms of social networks is non-existent and general material on the subject of cyber exploitation

overall has dwindled significantly since 2011. The continuing increase in arrests related to CEP

highlight the urgent need for research related to this subject. It is recommended that

professionals from various fields come together for the purpose of developing a set standard for

measuring future social networking sites and applications, as well as the development of

software that applies safety filters for users under the age of 18. Keywords: Cybersecurity,

Professor Michael Sanchez, Internet-facilitate child exploitation, cyber sex offenders,

anonymous social networks, dangers of social networks.

Acknowledgements This capstone project was only made possible because of the immense support I have

received from various individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank the good Lord above

for providing me with the determination and belief I needed to get through this program and

capstone process. In addition, I would like to thank my parents and sisters, Priya and Nirmala,

for the long talks and words of encouragement when balancing school, work, and life became

hectic.

As for my professors at Utica College, I don’t think I would have learned as much as I

have and enjoyed this program as much as I did, if it wasn’t for their teaching styles and

enthusiasm for cybersecurity and computer forensics. I would especially like to thank Professors

McCandlish and DeSarro for unlocking a love for Linux forensics. I will never use the word

“also” in my deliverables.

A very special thank you to my second reader Agent William Donaldson and capstone

advisor, Professor Michael Craig. Without their patience, guidance and willingness to work with

me to get past the hurdles of this process I would not have been able to survive capstone. My

experience at Utica College has been a great one that will forever have a direct influence on my

education and career.

Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 2

Understanding Internet Crimes Against Children ................................................................... 2 Chat Rooms ............................................................................................................................. 3 Social Networking Sites (SNS) ............................................................................................... 4 Anonymous Social Networking Sites (ASN) .......................................................................... 5 Cyber Grooming ...................................................................................................................... 6

Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 7 Defining the Audience ................................................................................................................. 7

Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 8

Potential Targets ...................................................................................................................... 8 The Offender ........................................................................................................................... 9

Online Grooming ............................................................................................................... 11 Social Networks & Child Exploitation .................................................................................. 13

Features & Trends in Social Networking & Mobile Technology ............................................. 16 Chat Rooms ........................................................................................................................... 17 Social Networking Sites (SNS) ............................................................................................. 19

Facebook ............................................................................................................................ 20 Mobile Social Networks (MSN) ............................................................................................ 22

Snapchat ............................................................................................................................ 23 Anonymous Social Networking Sites (ASN) ........................................................................ 25

Whisper .............................................................................................................................. 25 The KIK Application ......................................................................................................... 26

Gaps in Current Research .......................................................................................................... 28 Discussion of the Findings ............................................................................................................ 30 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 34 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 36 References ..................................................................................................................................... 38

List of Illustrative Material Figure 1: Example of an America OnLine Chat Room. (Alcorn, 2013). ................................................. 4 Figure 2: Example of Facebook "Check-In". ................................................................................................. 20

Introduction

“He asked me my age and we began to chat about all sorts of things from music to things we liked and disliked.” “There was no swearing in there so it made me think he was respectful. He said he was 18 so I felt comfortable talking to him because he was older and wiser.” “He asked me where I lived and I know it was a mistake to tell him, but the general conversation seemed okay so I wasn’t worried.” “…. I gave him my mobile number first, because I thought he was one of my friends…”(Dorset Police-UK, 2016).

Before the Internet, a child offender had to physically be near children and adolescents

were physically located. An offender required both access and opportunity or the creation

thereof. For this reason, the most prosecuted child offenders were individuals considered to be

part of a child or adolescent’s circle of trust (NCTSN, 2009). Before the mass availability of the

Internet in 1996, physical barriers were one of the primary reasons the number of FBI related

child exploitation (CEP) investigations to less than 200 a year (Mueller, 2006). The Internet has

made it less difficult to commit crimes against children, while simultaneously reducing the

chances of catching perpetrators.

In today’s Internet-centric society, however, child offenders can be complete strangers

who are located anywhere in the world. The 58,000 investigations conducted by the FBI’s

Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Task Force in 2014 suggest that the ability to

anonymize one’s true identity has allowed offenders to exist in the cyber realm with relative ease

(OJP-ICAC, 2016; Mueller, 2006). The recent proliferation of social networking sites and

applications like Facebook, Yik Yak, and Whisper allow offenders to learn about, initiate contact

with, and manipulate impressionable teenagers while they are at home or on the move. With

three-quarters of teenagers in the United States owning or having access to a mobile device and

91% of teenagers accessing the Internet and social networking sites (SNS) daily (Lenhart, 2015),

it is imperative that researchers, parents, and law enforcement understand the contributions made

by SNS toward the cyber exploitation of adolescents.

Statement of the Problem

Social networking sites (SNS) have revolutionized social connectivity, helping to create

an expectation for immediate, real-time communication (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). From

researching the latest in sports and fashion to writing reviews, playing games, and sharing photos

and life events, this real-time communication is a benefit of the Internet that adolescents around

the word have welcomed and embraced. This new mode of social communication provides a

variety of opportunities, but it also exposes adolescents to cyber-sex offenders who exploit social

networks in order to target adolescents, many of who are between the ages of 13-17 (Katz, 2013;

Wolak, Finkelhor, & Mitchell, 2004. p424 e15). Considering that cyber exploitation of

adolescents is a multi-disciplinary subject, it is imperative that parents, child advocates, law

enforcement and adolescents themselves understand what cyber exploitation is and the related

influence of social networking sites and mobile technology.

Understanding Internet Crimes Against Children. Long before the mass popularity of

chat rooms in the mid-1990s, law enforcement and child advocates knew that cyber-sex

offenders hid and operated within the World Wide Web. Falling under four categories, the

United States Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) separates the various

child exploitation related crimes into the following four categories:

1. Pornography – The creation, possession, distribution and sale of sexually explicit material involving sexual acts committed with children and adolescents (18 U.S. Code § 2256, 2016)

2. Enticement for Sexual Tourism – The act of enticing at risk youth to leave their home

for adventure and travel with the main intent being sexual service for profit or personal gratification.

3. Sextortion – The act of threatening to release private or sensitive material of a child or adolescent to friends, parents, school (or other means of public humiliation) if the youth does not provide (a) images of a sexual nature (b) sexual favors or (c) money (FBI, 2015).

4. Solicitation – Connecting with children and adolescents online for the purposes of

enticing them to commit sexual acts (OJP, 2001).

According to the FBI, since the inception of the Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC)

Task Force program in 1998 more than 54,000 arrests have been made, 8,100 of those being

made in 2014 alone and the majority of solicitation attempts are committed against older

adolescents. In addition, a 2010 study conducted by Dr. Kimberly Mitchell at the University of

New Hampshire revealed that 82% of online sex crimes committed against adolescents started

with the offender using social networking sites to gain information about the likes and dislikes of

their potential targets. Initially offender access to adolescents was restricted to chat rooms, but

now there are traditional social networking sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as

anonymous social networks like Yik Yak and ChatRoullette.

Chat Rooms. Made popular by companies like America Online (AOL) and Yahoo in the

1990’s, chat rooms are web domains that provide users with a venue to discuss and share

thoughts concerning common interests. These domains (also known as rooms) are typically

named for the topic of interest discussed, for example, Home Décor or Football Fanatics. To

enter a chat room, the user signs on to the site by typing in a username and password. Once

inside, the user will see a list of all the usernames in the room and other users will be alerted to

the fact that someone else has entered the room. A live non-sequential feed of all the

conversations going on at that moment will also be visible. As shown in Figure 1, by typing and

submitting their thoughts into a text box, the user joins the conversation. Each time the user

makes a comment, his or her screen name precedes their contribution, and it is made visible to all

other users in the room (Dean, 2006; Rouse, 2005).

Figure 1: Example of an America OnLine Chat Room. (Alcorn, 2013).

Social Networking Sites (SNS). According to Boyd and Ellison (2008), a social

networking site is a web-based platform that allows users to create a profile within an online

community. The profile, an online description of social characteristics constructed with words

and/or photos, is used to interact with other users of that community (Gartner Research, 2016).

A new user typically sets up their profile with both personal and vague information about

themselves and uploads a picture that is used to identify their profile. Once completed, the next

step is to create a list of individuals to whom the user is connected (Techopedia, 2016).

Such a list, referred to as a Friends List, Buddy Lists, or simply Contacts, begins with the

user sending a request to connect to an individual. The recipient of the request is given the

ability to accept or reject the connection. If accepted, the bi-directional link is established and

both users appear on each other’s list (Techopedia, 2016). Depending on the privacy setting of

each user, the list can be searched by other friends in order to expand further the network with

individuals they know or would like to know.

There is currently a variety of social networking sites, all of which claim to have features that

are unique to their service. Traditionally, however, there are seven elements that SNS have

(Qed42.com, 2016)

1. Registration – A means of tying the account to the user. Can be as simple as an email address and password or more complicated, requiring authentication of an organization or school email address.

2. A Profile - A visual display of information related to a specific user. Can be comprised of text only, pictures only, or both (Microsoft, 2016).

3. Feed – A running and real-time updated list of postings1 from users in a specific network.

May also be referred to as News Feed, Mini-Feed, RSS-Feed or Web-Feeds (Microsoft, 2016).

4. Easy Interaction: One of the foundations of social networking is the ability to

communicate with others. Therefore, making communication easy and providing numerous means of interacting is imperative; for example, sending someone a message, liking a picture, posting on a wall, playing a game, or sending a virtual gift.

5. Friendly User Interface: A main page that the account holder can easily use to navigate

the site. This may include a navigation menu and should have a clean and simple lay out.

6. Ability to Import Users: Being able to link one’s contacts from email account or device as well as other sites. This allows users to expand their network.

7. Search Function: One of the foundations of SNS is the ability to search for other users

whom you may have never met or only met in person a few times. The search function also allows a user to search for groups and sub-communities that may interest them. For example, the local chapter of a user’s Alma Mater. Anonymous Social Networking Sites (ASN). According to a 2013 Pew Research

Center survey of online anonymity, 59% of people believe users should be able to use the

Internet completely anonymously and 86% of the Internet users surveyed had taken at least one

step to mask their activity in the past (Rainie, 2013). This desire for more privacy online has

1 An Internet “post” is a publishing of a text, photo or other forms of media on the Internet.

resulted in the creation of anonymous social networking sites (ANS) and the popularity of

disappearing user content. For example, Snapchat is a picture/video-clip messaging application

that allows a user to send a specific user pictures and short 15-second video-clips (referred to as

a snap) that have a self-destruct timers attached. The receiving user can respond back via a text

message or by sending their own snap. Once the intended recipient has viewed the snap, it is

supposedly deleted forever (Snapchat, 2016.)

Another example, Yik Yak, is a location based messaging application that allows users to

post their thoughts. Other users within a 5-mile radius can like, dislike, and/or respond to the

original user’s post. The more likes a post receives the higher it is ranked and the longer it

remains visible. While Yik Yak provides methods for virtually blocking the application’s

functionality near a school or child organization, applications like Whisper allow anyone,

including students, to post while in or near a school (Yik Yak, 2016; Whisper, 2016).

Cyber Grooming. According to the U.S. Department of Justice cyber-grooming (often

referred to as grooming) is the process by which one builds a friendly relationship with a child or

adolescent in order to lower inhibitions and gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse or

exploitation (NSOPW, 2016). It is an important technique, that has transcended social

communication since the early days of chat rooms and has only been made easier via social

networks (Choo, 2009).

As social networks move from being desktop-based to being mobile and as user

interaction progresses from publicly known to anonymous, the amount of opportunity afforded to

child offenders will continue to increase. It is imperative that research continuously examine the

impact social networks have on the sexual exploitation of adolescents. By measuring the current

state of social networking sites against the studies that have examined Internet-facilitated CEP,

features commonly used by offenders can be highlighted and trends in both adolescent and

offender activities can be identified, allowing the standardization of methods for analyzing future

applications and sites.

Research Questions

While the online exploitation of children under the age of 10 is also a problem for law

enforcement, the purpose of this study is to explore how the advancement of the Internet and

social media contributes to the online exploitation of adolescents, the group most frequently

targeted. This research is intended to answer the following questions:

Q1) What literature exists regarding the role social networks play in CEP?

Q2) What features and/or trends in mobile technology and social networks put

adolescents at risk for solicitation?

Q3) Do gaps in the current body of CEP and social media research exist? If so, what

limitations and deficiencies exist in current literature?

Defining the Audience

By understanding the role social networks play in Internet-facilitated child exploitation,

parents can monitor the online activity of their children, communicating with them about

potential dangers more effectively. In addition, such understanding will also allow developers to

implement technology that delivers the privacy and anonymity consumers’ desire, while

allowing child advocates to establish standards to which future social networking sites and

applications might be held. The intended audience for this research ranges from investigators

and medical professionals to parents, school officials, and community leaders.

Literature Review

Introduction

The FBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, state, and local law

enforcement agencies show that the number of Internet facilitated CEP related investigations

continue to increase, as well the necessary funding associated with the investigations and arrest

of offenders (ODJP-ICAC, 2016). However, empirical research regarding the role and

involvement of social networking sites and mobile technology appears to have greatly dwindled

since 2011, and much existing research is out of date due to the rate at which the Internet and

technology advances. The severe lack of contemporary research prevents law enforcement and

child advocates from understanding how computer assisted communication (CAC) in the form of

social networking affects the exploitation of children and adolescents. The purpose of this study

is to (1) provide a review of the research that has already been conducted, (2) to provide an

understanding about the features in mobile technology and social media that may contribute to

the exploitation of adolescents and children, and (3) to review the gaps in existing research.

Potential Targets. The earliest known publications regarding the safety of children and

adolescents online were not empirical evaluations, but rather reports and observations from

investigators (Jackson, 1989). The Internet was, at this time, deemed to be an “emerging

research frontier” for topics such as cyber exploitation and the media assisted in creating several

stereotypes that continue to exist today (Durkin and Bryant, 1995). One such belief was that

Internet-facilitated child exploitation involves offenders using trickery to lure children under the

age of ten into sexual conversations and activities (Crimaldi, 2007; Kloess, Beech and Harkins,

2014). Over the years, studies have shown that the majority of CEP cases actually involve teens

between the ages of 13 -17 years old. These teens, after some variable amount of time, willingly

give sexually explicit photos and agree on face-to-face meetings, based on the belief that they are

in a romantic relationship (Fleming & Rickwood, 2004; Jones, et al., 2013; Wolak, Finkelhor,

Mitchell & Ybarra, 2008; NSOPW, 2016). Furthermore, a few studies and surveys have

suggested that the adolescents who give in to an offender’s attempt at communication are a

separate set of teens.

Several surveys and studies show the adolescents who are most commonly victimized

online are those who engage in risky behavior (Mitchel, Finkelhor & Wolak, 2007; Livingstone

and Smith, 2014; Carrier, L.M et.al, 2015. p119). This risky behavior, which includes

interacting with strangers online, sharing personal information publicly, and talking about sex

with strangers, may be due to both on and offline variables. Online, the mass affordability,

availability, and accessibility of sexually explicit material have resulted in the desensitization of

adolescents towards sex (Cooper, 1998; Peter and Valkenburg, 2006). Secondly, the online

disinhibition effect, which is the relaxation or complete abandonment of social and self-imposed

inhibitions can cause vulnerable adolescent to disclose sensitive information about themselves

and act in ways they normally wouldn’t (Suler, 2004; Schouten, 2007). Furthermore, an

adolescent’s online behavior may be an extended result of offline vulnerabilities, such as

problems at school or with family, social isolation, self-esteem, previous sexual victimization

and more (Berson, 2003; Leander, Christianson & Granhag, 2008; Ybarra, et.al, 2008; Whittle,

Hamilton-Giachritsis, Beech & Collings, 2013; Wolak, et al., 2008).

The Offender. Online sexual offenders are a diverse group of criminals, which makes

the identification of standard characteristics difficult (CSOM, 2008; Ospina et al., 2010; Wortley

& Smallbone, 2013). Historically, many believe that the sexual offender is typically a

Caucasian, middle class, middle-aged unemployed man (California Office of Attorney General,

2001). Some studies have shown, however, that sexual offenders can be men or women of all

races and, most importantly, of all ages, including adolescents (CSOM, 2008; Finkelhor, Ormrod

& Chaffin, 2009). Despite the various descriptions, motives and criminal histories, a few studies

throughout the last two decades have identified several common key attributes regarding how

cybersex offenders operate. For example, a review of police reports and case studies in 1997

demonstrated that sex offenders were using the Internet in the following four ways:

1. To share, sell, and distribute child pornography

2. To locate children for physical sexual activity

3. To engage in inappropriate sexual communication with adolescents

4. To communicate with other sex offenders (Durkin, 1997).

In all four of the above categories, cyber-sex offenders scan, observe, and plan before

taking action. In no other category is this truer than an offender’s attempt to engage

inappropriately with adolescents through exploitation and solicitation. The details regarding how

cyber-sex offenders identify their targets, initiate communication and establish a relationship

with targets may vary from one offender to another, but multiple reports have identified scanning

and online grooming as the two main components of how an offender operates.

Before an offender initiates any sort of contact with a potential target, there is a scanning

period (Webster, et al., 2012). During this phase, an offender will observe the online

environment of interest and gather information in order to make an “informed decision” about

which potential victim they should approach (Mitchell, Finkelhor, Jones, & Wolack, 2010).

During this scanning period, the offender can make use of one or more of the following three

character assessments:

1. Virtual-Sexual Assessment: The offender’s use of their experience to interpret screen names. (Webster, et al., 2012). For example, screen names that have sexually suggestive words like “Foxy”, childlike nicknames or numbers, which indicate their age or year of birth (Dean, 2006; Malesky, 2007).

2. Idealistic/romantic Assessment: the offender observes an adolescent’s messages online

in order to determine whether they fit the offender’s relationship needs. For example, as one offender explained, he was attracted to a young person if:

“The young person looked fun and fun to be around” (Webster, et al., 2012)

3. Physical Characteristics Assessment: The offender examines the young person’s

photos to identify whether they have the bodily attributes and shape the offender desires (Webster, et al., 2012).

Once the offender has finished scanning (Mcalinden, 2006 ) the online environment, initial

contact can begin with a simple hello. Many offenders admit to saying hello to multiple

potential targets at a time while looking for the adolescent(s) who will respond back (Malesky,

2007; Dean, 2006). If the initial contact is successful then the online grooming process begins.

Online Grooming. Online or cyber ‘grooming’ is the process by which an offender

manipulates an adolescent to convince them that they are in a relationship, doing so for the

purpose of gaining sexually explicit material or meeting for sexual activities. The highly

manipulative process, which may come in the form of coercion or threats, is complex (Berson,

2003). Factors such as parental involvement and level of offender patience, makes identifying

the start and end of the process difficult (Mcalinden, A, 2006). Despite these factors, once the

offender has successfully gained the attention of an adolescent, the grooming process can begin

(O’Connell, 2003 and Cano et.al, 2014). This technique involves three primary stages and,

depending on the preferences of the offender, may include several sub-stages (Whittle,

Hamilton-Giachritsis, Beech & Collings, 2013).

The first stage is the Deceptive Trust Development stage, in which the offender

exchanges both personal and preferential information (i.e. likes, dislikes and fears) in order to get

to know the child and build a foundation with the victim. During this stage, the offender will

also ask questions, regarding the support system an adolescent has in friends and family (Cano,

et al., 2014). This stage may be extended by both a Risk Assessment stage and Exclusivity stage.

In the Risk Assessment stage, the offender will ask questions about the level of privacy an

adolescent has on the computer and at home in general. If followed by the Exclusivity stage, the

offender will further the establishment of trust by leveling with the teen in conversations that

allow the offender to make statements such as “I understand what you’re going through and so

you can speak to me about anything” (O’Connell, 2003). The first stage ends with the offender

requesting pictures of a non-sexual nature or bringing up conversations about pictures present on

an adolescent’s account.

The second stage is the Grooming stage. This is a key stage in the manipulation process

and takes place once the offender is comfortable and believes a level of trust has been established

(Webster et al., 2012). In this stage, the offender’s main goal is to ignite the adolescent’s sexual

interest (Cano, et al. 2014). This involves using terms like “sweetie” or “hun” and introducing

questions about sexuality. For example, “Have you ever been kissed?” During this stage, the

offender begins the Cycle of Entrapment by first flirting with the teen. As the level of trust

continues to grow, the offender progresses by moving on to ‘dirty talk’ (using sexual terms to

describe one’s actions or looks) or sending implicitly sexual photos or links to pornographic

websites (O’Connell, 2003; Ospina, et al., 2010).

Finally, the Physical Approach stage is the stage at which the encounter has the chance to

move offline. If this is the offender’s intention, he or she begins inquiring about the victim’s

schedule, their parents’ schedule, after school routine, or weekend plans. Eventually, the

offender will attempt to schedule or request a meeting with the teen (Cano, et al., 2014). If

successful, by the end of the grooming process, the adolescent believes he or she has a deep or

romantic connection with the offender and may willingly agree to meet the offender.

An effective grooming cycle has long lasting effects. In addition to the feelings of love,

loyalty and gratitude that may ensue the offender also gains continued access to the victim,

cooperation from the victim and isolation of the victim from family and friends. Furthermore,

after the sexual encounter occurs, even if an adolescent victim experiences feelings of guilt and

shame, he or she may still return to the offender (Clemente, n.d.). This behavior, which the FBI

refers to as compliant victimization is the result of the immense feelings the victim has towards

the offender and the joy they experienced from gifts received. Unfortunately, some victims are

so grateful for the attention and love that they willingly enjoy and seek out reoccurring

encounters with the offender thereby renewing portions of the grooming process (Clemente, n.d.;

Lanning, 2005).

Social Networks & Child Exploitation. The safety of children and adolescents in the

cyber world has been a subject of both concern and study for several decades. Niche subjects

relating to the effects and influence of social networks, however, are relatively recent and few

empirical studies exist, especially with respect to child exploitation. When the Internet became

available to a mass consumer market, social connectivity was limited to forums where users

could and post and respond to the typed messages of other users and chat rooms offered by

Internet service providers (ISPs) like American Online (AOL). It was in these rooms that

investigators found cyber-sex offenders targeting impressionable adolescents (Dean, 2006). As

the subject of chat rooms and cyber-sex offenders became a topic of importance, online

relationships between adults and teens became a concern (Wolak, Mitchell & Finkelhor, 2002).

Furthermore, using the promise of these “relationships” it was found that the offline process of

“grooming” a child victim could be carried over to the online world and services like chat rooms

enhanced this process (O’Connell, 2003; Dean 2006).

During the early 2000’s, when desktop computers and phone lines provided the primary

means of Internet accessibility, the first national Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-1) and the

first National Juvenile Online Victimization study showed that 19% of children reported claims

of unwanted sexual solicitation and 66% of all solicitations were made in chat rooms (Wolack,

Finkelhor and Mitchell, 2000). In addition, it was also found that between 2000 and 2001, 25%

of the arrests made were solicitation attempts offenders made toward undercover investigators in

chat rooms (NCMEC).

As the Internet continued to advance, desktop computers and chat rooms became archaic

while cell phones, tablets, wireless technology, and social networks became the desired source of

social connectivity and communication. The result was a reduction in, but not complete, loss of

traffic to chat rooms (Boyd and Ellison, 2008; Dewey, 2014). By the time the second and third

YISS surveys came out in 2006 and 2011, 11 million adolescents were online in the US, three-

quarters of surveyed adolescents owned or had access to mobile devices with Internet

capabilities, and 71% of teens accessed more than one social media account daily (Lenhart,

2015). Despite these numbers, a collective review of the three YISS suggest a decline in the

number of adolescent visitors to chat rooms, a decrease in the number of unwanted sexual

solicitations in chat rooms (from 19% to 13% to 9%), and a 50% decrease in the overall number

of online solicitations. One key finding, however, revealed that the number of aggressive online

solicitations (solicitations most likely to carry over into the physical world) remained at 3%. In

addition, for the first time, YISS-2 was able to establish that 17% of the online solicitations

occurred while the adolescent was on a cell phone (Wolack et. al, 2006; Lenhart, Hitlin &

Madden, 2005).

These findings are interesting when the increasing number of ICAC arrests is considered.

ICAC funding has steadily grown from $12.4 million in 2003 to $27 million in 2014. In

addition, while some studies suggest that reduction in reported sexual solicitations is due to the

awareness of adolescents and the increased presence of undercover investigators in chat rooms,

there is also the fact that even 3% of 11 million is a large number of adolescents susceptible to

sexual exploitation. Furthermore, the grooming process results in the adolescent victim likely

believing he or she is in a romantic relationship with the offender and, as a result, often times

agrees to the physical encounter, which pursuant to the law is statutory rape and not forced

solicitation (Wolak & Finkelhor, 2013).

Unfortunately, the implications made by the three YISS surveys, along with the finding

from one study suggesting that social networks do not cause online child victimization, may have

resulted in a reduced justification for further scientific research. In a study conducted by Dr.

Michelle Ybarra, 1,588 adolescents between the ages of 10-15 years old were surveyed,

revealing that only 4% of adolescents reported unwanted sexual solicitations taking place

directly on social networks. Ybarra concluded that the evidence did not suggest having a social

network account predisposed adolescents to child exploitation (Ybarra et.al, 2008). While this

finding may be true, social networks do not have to be the direct cause in order for there to be

concern over its role. As one study, showed SNS played a role in 2,322 cases of online sex

crimes committed against children:

● Fifty percent of the offenders used SNS to form a relationship

● Sixty nine percent of the arrests involved the offender using SNS to obtain information about the targets likes and dislikes, home or school and to look at pictures.

● Seventy two percent of the arrests involved communication via messages between the offender and victim.

● Eight percent of the arrests used the SNS of one user to reach out to friends of the victim. (Mitchell, et al., 2010) Findings like these not only contradict the initial YISS and Ybarra study but also bring to

attention the confusion and disconnect that currently exists between studies of the past,

highlighting the need for further research. To address this need, the most popular forms of social

networks should be examined and the features that are most useful to sexual offenders should be

identified.

Features & Trends in Social Networking & Mobile Technology

Humanity’s immense need to share information is one of the principal foundations behind

the creation of online social networks (Keitzmann et al., 2011). Just as in the real world, this

need to share information can be based on self-actualization, validation, the desire to belong, or

the need to bond (Brett, 2016; Mesch, 2012). The potential for instantaneous social support and

interaction that stems from sharing on SNS has 43% of adolescents spending more than four

hours a day on sites and applications like Facebook and Instagram (Common Sense Media,

2015). During this time, users share photos, life events, and thoughts as well as interact with and

view information that is shared by others. Unfortunately, unless the appropriate privacy settings

are put in place, strangers also have access to this shared information. This includes the 41% of

adults since August 2012 who have collected photos and videos for the purposes of re-sharing

them with others (Lenhart, 2015). Without knowing who these adults are, what images they are

collecting, or the purpose of their collection it is possible that cyber-sex offenders are amongst

this 41 percent of adults.

Chat Rooms. When the Internet became available to the masses in the early 1990’s, chat

room such as those offered by American Online (AOL), YAHOO and Microsoft’s MSN Chat

were some of the most popular web domains visited on the World Wide Web. For example,

AOL by 1997 had 19,000 chat rooms and more than 17 million subscribers spending hundreds of

hours in chat rooms each day (Dewey, 2014, Wagstaff, 2012). During this time, the typical user

profile only contained text information. Some of the information requested, such as name, age

and gender were sensitive, while others were a bit more general in nature (i.e. favorite movies,

books or hobbies). In addition, components like e-mail2, profiles, and Friend Lists operated

exclusively of one another (Dewey, 2014). Therefore, one’s Friend List, for example, was not

searchable by others and one could not access another’s profile by clicking their name with in a

separate Friend List. Despite the slow connection at times and the separation of features, the

power of connectivity that chat rooms provided attracted users of all ages to chat rooms created

by the Internet service providers (ISP), chat rooms sponsored by corporations, as well as the

unmonitored user-created rooms (Dean, 2006; Dewey, 2014).

The ISP created chat rooms were based on mainstream interest topics like music, fashion,

sports, and locale. Members could join multiple chat rooms at any given time. In addition to

these rooms, there were user-created rooms that could be opened by anyone for a variety of

reasons including an array of sexual topics involving adolescents. As troublesome as the idea

may be, chat rooms such as Younger Girls 4 Older Guys and 9-17 Wantin Sex existed. In these

rooms, offenders not only awaited the accidental visits of adolescents but they also exchanged

material and information with another (Cohen-Almagor, 2015). These chat rooms were created

by anonymous subscribers who did not have to provide any form of valid identification upon

2 E-mail address – Short of “electronic mail” the e-mail address is a unique digital identifier that allows a user to send digital messages from one user to another (Christensson, 2014).

opening the rooms (Dean, 2006). The ‘user created’ nature of these chat rooms, along with the

minimal daily traffic, resulted in hundreds of unregulated rooms (Dean, 2006). To find and enter

these rooms, a user could search for words related to the topic in the chat room directory (a list of

all open chat rooms) and intentionally or accidentally enter after having clicked on a banner ad

from a different website that had the web address of the sex chat room linked (Dean, 2006).

Using the knowledge that screen names of teenagers typically give clues about age,

location, hobby, or possible sexual curiosities, an offender could enter in to a room like Soccer

Girls or Young Floridians with a user name that appeals to that room’s topic and scan the

ongoing chat for potential victims. Offenders who spent hours a day doing this could easily

identify impressionable adolescents (Webster, et al., 2012). When comfortable, the offender

could address an adolescent by first casually talking to the user within the chat room, building

their fake persona, and gaining the trust of the targeted teenager. As the conversation continues

and the offender senses a level of trust, he or she may encourage the user to move the

conversation to a more private messaging channel like Buddy Talk. Once there, the progression

of this encounter varies, but within a short time, the offender’s true intentions will be revealed.

These intentions can include the request of a nude or partially nude photo, a phone call or a

physical meeting (O’Connel, 2003)

Interestingly, many of the sex chat rooms that thrived in the mid-1990s appeared to have

been sponsored by well-known public corporations. This was not necessarily intentional. The

reality was that though the user-created rooms were mainly unmonitored, the ISPs still had a

database of all the rooms in their service. When public companies paid the ISPs to place

advertisements in the chat rooms, ISPs like Yahoo randomly selected the rooms that the

advertisements were placed in without verifying the type of room, even if it was a user-created

room (Dean, 2006). Unfortunately, this meant that Brawny could potentially sponsor a child-sex

based room. As the number of chat room initiated solicitation investigations began to increase

and enter mainstream media, parents and child advocates started taking note. Using the power of

the consumer market, corporations pulled their advertisements from ISPs, resulting in an

enormous loss of revenue that the ISPs could not ignore (Hiraoka, 2005). Companies like Yahoo

and AOL began shutting down sex-based chat rooms and requiring valid identification for all

other user-created rooms. These measures, while useful, could not stop the occurrence of online

exploitation because sex offenders did not only spend time in sex-based chat rooms, but also hid

within general interest rooms as well.

Social Networking Sites (SNS). A new form of social communication, the Social

Network Service (SNS), eventually succeeded the popular chat room era of the 1990’s. Sites

like Friendster and MySpace revolutionized the previously existing chat interfaces by including

more detailed profiles of interest to incorporate music, photo albums, journal entries, searchable

friends lists, videos, frequently visited locations and more (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). For

example, Friendster users were among the first to be able to post multiple user profile pictures,

comment on the pictures of friends and even search each other’s friend list if the other person

was within four degrees of separation3. Combining all of these features appealed to the creative

side of teenagers because it was a new way in which they could express themselves.

Unfortunately, social networking sites not only allow offenders to learn about potential victims

on a deeper level, in turn creating profiles that are more appealing, but also allow offenders to

easily navigate the networks in search of other potential targets. The result of this unification

3 Six Degrees of Separation is a popular cultural theory that everyone is connected by a chain of acquaintances that includes up to five intermediaries. The social networking site Friendster extended this theory to its Friend List. Depending on the privacy settings selected a user could search their friend’s list for others that were separated by no more than three intermediate friends (Donath and Boyd, 2004).

made sites like MySpace appealing to more than 90,000 sex offenders in the early 2000’s

(Walker, 2009).

Facebook. In 2006 after becoming a huge success with both college and high school

students in the United Stated, Facebook, freely opened its social network to anyone with a

registered email address. With over 1.59 billion monthly active users, the social

media/networking giant has captured the interest of users of all ages around the world (Smith,

2016). Since its creation, Facebook has continued to develop its services to the extent that many

consider it a community of its own (Reich, 2010). As with many of its predecessors, Facebook

allows for in-depth profiles, conversation threads, searchable friend’s lists, and photos. Unlike

AOL, MySpace, and other similar social sites, Facebook allows unlimited photo albums, pages

of interest, interactive gaming, digital affection, detailed image searches (of even non-friends),

and the Check-In – a feature, which makes use of global positioning systems (GPS) to link and

display a user’s location. This feature allows a user to tag others and describe what it is they are

doing and the emotions being felt. For example, in Figure 2 the user expressed excitement while

at an establishment named Sambuca Nashville with three other individuals. If one were to click

on the establishment’s name, a map of its location and a time stamp could appear. The ability of

an offender to track physically a target via Facebook is compounded by the ability to click on “3

others.” With this feature, a third party can see the identity of the target’s companions.

Figure 2: Example of Facebook "Check-In".

Unifying components like GPS technology, photo share, and tagging, Facebook provides

adolescents with a way to express themselves, establish new relationships, and strengthen

relationships that, at one time, existed only in the physical world. A 2013 Pew Research study

shows that young members between the ages of 12 and 17 are taking full advantage of these

features and sharing now more than ever. Some experts suggest that the establishment and

nurturing of relationships via SNS potentially creates a false sense of safety (US-CERT, 2015).

This false sense of safety, which is manifested in the belief that an adolescent is in some type of

relationship, is what some offender’s use to transition from an online encounter to an offline

meeting.

For this reason, and to protect all users in general, Facebook does provide customizable

levels of privacy on a user’s account. Privacy settings allow for the customization of everything

from biography information, photos, wall posts, search ability, and communication. Facebook

offers the following privacy options:

● Public ● Anyone ● Only Me ● Only Friends ● Friends of Friends ● All Friends Except (Facebook, 2016).

These options, if carefully selected, do allow a strict level of privacy, but whenever

Facebook offers a new feature, the associated privacy option is set to Public by default, which

includes third parties and potential offenders (Boyd and Hargittai, 2010). Furthermore, many of

the privacy options are unclear and hidden within the different user settings. For example, by

default Facebook’s messenger privacy control is set by Who Can Reach Out to Me. Even if the

user selects the Only Friends option, if a stranger or Unfriended individual sends you a message,

rather than block the message, it is placed in a separate folder marked Other that the user can

view when desired.

Mobile Social Networks (MSN). Mobile Technology, also known as Fourth Screen

Technology has entirely changed the social networking landscape (Liu, 2014). Instead of

accessing the Internet after school on the family desktop, users of all ages can talk to friends,

play games, share photos and more, directly from their smartphones. The immense popularity of

and desire for mobile applications has resulted in social networking sites like Facebook and

Twitter creating mobile versions of their desktop services. In addition, applications such as

Instagram for public image sharing, FourSquare for amplified sharing, Snapchat for private

image sharing and Tinder for location-based matchmaking are all created for exclusive use on

mobile devices (Liu, 2014.). The advances in mobile technology, which have made these and

other mobile social networking sites (MSN) a desire amongst teenagers, also provide cyber-sex

offenders with additional means of targeting impressionable youth. One such example is the

integration of global positioning system (GPS) technology. Many of the MSN have employed

GPS technology to allow users to share location related information for the purposes of meeting

up with others, sharing directions, or simply adding details to a life event.

Whether it is an actual Check-In on Facebook or picture shares on Instagram, the

integrated GPS technology of today’s social networking applications allows both strangers and

friends to find out where a user has been and may assist in predicting where they might be in the

future. From this information, an offender can pick out conversation topics, suggest meeting

places, or in late-stage grooming, present themselves at a user’s most frequented establishments.

In addition to Check-In features, like that of Facebook, there are entire applications like

FourSquare and Tinder whose services are based on geo-location tracking. The ability for one to

know that another is within a pre-determined radius allows offenders to fixate on specific areas.

In the case of Tinder, there are two separate communities, one for those over the age of 18 and

another for those between the ages of 13 to 17. For both communities, Tinder provides a private

chat interface that is determined by the mutual attractiveness of two user profiles (Cohen, 2015).

After a user downloads the application and signs up as a member via their Facebook account, a

user is then matched to other users between a one and 100-mile radius, where users can browse

potential matches, user pictures, and read a small biography about them. Once connected, users

have the opportunity to talk and get to know each other before deciding if they would like to

meet in person. While the application attempts to separate the age groups and authenticate users

by requiring registration via Facebook, one Australian study found it is possible for both

adolescents and offenders to sign up for a fake Facebook accounts and access the different

Tinder communities. In the experiment, the group created the profile of an 18-year-old girl for

an actress who was actually 21 years old. Upon creating the profile, the actress connected with

each profile that sent a connection request. For each match, the actress immediately told the

other person that she was actually 15 years old and her advertised age on Facebook was

incorrect. The results demonstrated that a few users immediately unmatched the actress, but

several men pursued the assumed adolescent and even suggested meeting offline (Huynh, 2015).

Snapchat. Snapchat, like Facebook, is considered a service that is rapidly changing the

social networking landscape. The application allows users to capture and share videos and

photos for up to ten seconds by attaching a timer to each share. When a snap is sent, it is

uploaded to the company’s servers. The servers will then send a notification to the recipient(s).

When a snap is viewed and the timer runs out the application notifies the server that the message

has been viewed, which will then notify the sender. After all recipients view a snap, it is deleted

from the servers and the temporary folder of the user’s device. If a snap is not viewed within the

allotted thirty days, it is deleted (Snapchat, 2016).

The ability for a cyber-sex offender to engage with adolescents is dependent upon the

adolescent performing cognizant actions that go beyond clicking an “accept” button. These

actions include:

● Publishing one’s username ● Giving one’s username to another individual ● Turning on the GPS function that locates friends within close proximity ● Adding friends from one’s phone book ● Sharing one’s unique Snapchat image based code with another user ● Changing the default privacy setting from “Friends Only” to “Everyone”.

(Snapchat, 2016).

By designing the application in a manner, which forces a user to make decisions knowingly

about his or her privacy, the application promotes safety. For users who acknowledge the

potential dangers and use these settings appropriately, the result is reduced offender accessibility.

The Snapchat feature most appealing to offenders, however, is not the ability to meet new

targets, but rather its use during the grooming process. As several recent arrests have shown, by

requesting or sending sexual messages over Snapchat, offenders can encourage adolescents to

share sexually explicit photos and videos over their cell phones, an act that is commonly referred

to as “sexting” (Poltash, 2013; Ortiz, 2013; Shuda, 2016; Strassberg et. al, 2012). Applications

like Snapchat encourage such activity because they create a false sense of safety. This sense of

safety, for Snapchat, lies with the comfort adolescents have in the self-destruct timer and the

concept of disappearing data (Pagliery, 2014). Unfortunately, if an impressionable teen

participates in sending sexually explicit photos, the only measure taken in favor of the adolescent

is a notification sent to the teen user by Snapchat. If the photo has been saved, which is

unhelpful considering once an image is in the hands of another there is no guarantee as to where

it will be published or shared.

Furthermore, until snaps are seen by all intended users, or have reached the 30-day mark,

snaps remain on the SnapChat server (Snapchat, 2016). Server-based storage is a concern for

law enforcement because, like any server, crime enterprises or a lone hacker could breach the

server and leak existing snaps. Such a situation occurred in October 2014, when the server of a

third party Snapchat saver application, SnapSave, was hacked and thousands of images were

leaked to the deep web for sex offenders to buy, sell, and use as black mail (Dewey, 2014).

Anonymous Social Networking Sites (ASN). The most recent trend amongst teens and

adults alike in social networking is the development and growth of anonymous social networking

(ASN). The founding principal behind these applications is the ability to share and interact with

others freely without the fear of judgment. Users download these mobile applications and are

able to use them immediately without prior registration. Once inside, a user can post a picture or

text. The popularity of a share is decided by how many users approve or disapprove of the share.

The more approvals a post receives, the higher the post ranks and the longer it is visible. If the

post gets zero likes, or is disliked, it will decrease in the rankings until it is removed. The

majority of these applications follow this foundational concept, with unique features that make

each application different and appeal to differing audiences. For example, Yik Yak is a location-

based ASN that connects users based on communities within a 10-mile radius. After School is

an ASN that prides itself on having the ability to function within schools, while Gossup (not yet

in the US) combines features of Instagram, Foursquare, and Reddit to give users a unique

anonymous sharing experience (Black, Mezzina & Thompson 2016; Purewal, 2015; Roose,

2014).

Whisper. Created in 2012, Whisper is one of the most popular ASNs. The service

integrates GPS technology in order to permit users within a 25-mile radius to share their thoughts

and life events through images that contain catch phrases and announcements, also known as a

meme. Upon downloading the application, a user is immediately able to interact with others by

voting on their meme, re-sharing their meme, or directly chatting with a user privately. In

addition, a user is also able to publish their own memes with a username attached. However, it

should be noted that these names are either unique names created by the user or the random

username assigned by the application immediately upon opening the application for the first

time.

The KIK Application. At the time of this publication, several law enforcement agencies,

media outlets, and child advocates are bringing attention to KIK, one of the most popular

messaging applications (Carlton, 2014). Similar to other text messaging applications, KIK

allows users to send photos, videos, and text messages to other KIK users in one’s contact list.

Unlike other text messaging applications, however, KIK provides several variables that protect

one’s true identity and encourages anonymous communication. First, upon downloading the

application the user is asked to register by providing information such as first and last name,

birthdate, username, and an e-mail address (KIK, 2016). Interestingly, though while much of this

information is logged, the user name is the only unique identifier stored and none of the other

identifying information is associated with the user or independently verified. Secondly,

according to KIK Interactive, even with a valid court order, KIK cannot provide law enforcement

with data such as photos and videos because they are deleted shortly after being sent (KIK,

2016). In addition, the transactional logs showing user activity only records usernames, not the

conversation or associated phone numbers. These variables along with the application within an

application function render KIK a favorite for many cyber-sex offenders.

In 2013, KIK incorporated the advances in mobile application integration technology to

create its “application within an application” function. This function allows compatible web

applications to be accessed from within KIK (Russell, 2015). The various web applications,

which are accessible from the main screen, provide various forms of entertainment through

which one can make new acquaintances. One such application is Role Play. Using the search

function within KIK, an offender can select the Role Play application and create a persona that is

completely different than the one registered with KIK. A user of this web application, can

change their gender, enter a false age or select a city and state that is different from their true

location. Once that information is entered, the user has the ability to search for individuals by

selecting the preferred gender and age (as young as 13 years old). Once the users have been

sorted, one can scan the list of users and immediately initiate a conversation. For offenders, this

web application provides optimum disguise and few barriers. As one sex offender reported

about KIK:

“The first thing that I thought was, ‘Wow! I can be whoever I want to be. I can get anybody I want. I can achieve my sexual glorification through this app,’”

Of teens whose user names indicated personal struggle:

“That’s when a sexual offender can jump in — like me. I would jump in and say ‘Hey. What’s your problem? Let’s talk,’” “I would be their comfort. I would be their go-to person.” (Hendrix, 2015, lines 19-32)

Despite the complete lack of empirical studies on these ASN applications, the

opportunities presented to offenders have already begun to appear in investigations and arrests

carried out by programs like local police departments and the Internet Crimes Against Children

(ICAC) task force. In 2013, a 21-year-old Seattle man was charged with soliciting a 12-year-old

girl for sex after meeting her on Whisper. After responding to one of her posts, the 12-year-old

began talking to the man via the use of the chat function contained within the application. After

a few weeks, the man was able to convince the teen to sneak out of her parent’s home and meet

him at a nearby hotel where he raped her (VickieG, 2013).

Gaps in Current Research

It is understandable that studies involving technology often possess gaps in research, and

the topic of online child exploitation is no different. The majority of CEP related research

leading up to 2011 has focused on characterizing offenders, examining targets, and studying the

cyber grooming process. As mentioned, few studies have examined the role social networks play

in CEP, and within these studies, several gaps exist. For example, in the studies examining the

grooming process several researchers offer statements regarding the type of techniques used by

offenders, but none of the studies have examined the success rates of the grooming process in

chat rooms versus the grooming process in social networks. The grooming processes in these

two services vary in the amount of information available to the offender. For instance, in a chat

room scanning screen names and building a “relationship” with adolescents is unaided by check-

ins, snaps, and photo albums. There are no lists of favorite books, movies, or hobbies to help an

offender hasten the rate at which trust is established. These rates, which can be measured in

terms of length in days, would help establish to what extent social networks facilitate CEP.

Another gap in current research is the detailed analysis of specific features and aspects of

mobile social networks that provide information about or access to adolescents. Existing studies

mention the concern over the ability of sex offenders to gather information from social networks,

however, to date no specific studies have been conducted which closely examine the many

features and capabilities of popular SNS, discussed in this paper. By understanding the key

features and functionalities that contribute to CEP, developers may be able to implement

additional security features that are specific to adolescents.

Finally, this study highlights several forms of social networks that online sex offenders

use to target, contact, and exploit adolescents. The forms of social networks discussed here

briefly examine each service as sole contributors to online child exploitation and calls for

research analyzing the independent features offered by each. However, an underlying area of

research that has been left open is the interplay between different modes of technology and the

various forms of social networks. Many adolescents and offenders use multiple modes of social

interaction throughout the day and many mobile applications, such as Snapchat derive their

registration from a user’s Facebook account. Given this fact, it would useful to CEP

investigators to establish statistical profiles of behavior such as if offenders use multiple means

of interacting with the same target, and if so how often. Depending on the initial result, future

research can then look at whether or not using multiple means of social interaction helps hasten

the cyber grooming process, or if it deepens the sense of love and loyalty that offenders exploit.

Discussion of the Findings

Internet-facilitated CEP has been a concern for several decades, and for years, the topics

surrounding this subject was regularly researched. During this time, mobile phones were not yet

in the hands of most teenagers and chat rooms were the most popular means of making new

friends online. In recent years, however, the scientific attention to given to social and mobile

networks as they relate to child exploitation has diminished even though the numbers of arrests

have continued to rise, mobile devices have become the preferred choice of online connectivity,

and social networks have become the preferred means of maintaining and establishing new

relationships online. Given the complexity of the subject, several limitations have hindered

efforts to study Internet-facilitated CEP.

First and foremost is the rate at which technology advances. When the first YISS was

published in 2001, chat rooms were the primary web domains cyber-sex offenders visited,

desktop computers provided accessibility to the Internet, and social networks were not popular.

Five years later when YISS-2 was published in 2006, cell phones that could access the Internet,

take photos and conduct international communication were not only used by adults but quickly

gaining popularity amongst adolescents. While chat rooms still existed, the popularity of these

web domains had greatly decreased and a slew of social networks had opened for business,

merged with one another, and in the case of Facebook, become the number one reason

adolescents went online. In the years since the second and third [2010] YISS, the Internet

landscape has continued to evolve. Speed and privacy are two of the primary factors

determining the direction of services and web applications developed. With the popularity of

these services constantly fluctuating, the results of any in-depth empirical study directed at social

networks and mobile technology might be useful for only a short period of time, if not entirely

invalid by the time it is ready for publication.

The amount of expertise that is required to make definitive statements regarding Internet-

facilitated CEP is another limitation that greatly hinders analysis of social networks and

advances in mobile technology. Like child abuse in the physical world, exploitation of

adolescents online is a very sensitive subject that requires the experience and scientific opinion

of experts from a variety of fields. These fields, to name a few, include:

● The Legal Field ● Law Enforcement ● Pediatric Medicine ● Education ● Psychology ● Socio-economics ● Computer Science

Within each of the above-mentioned fields, several variables affect the possible design and

ultimate interpretation of results. For instance, the potential for a teen to become vulnerable to

online offenders is dependent upon their predisposition to abuse, parental involvement, their

understanding of the Internet, and the amount of access allowed. Similarly, whether or not an

offender was abused as a child, their criminal history, and their reasons for seeking adolescents

are equally important in understanding how they operate online and what technology they are

likely to use. If parallels between these subjects cannot be drawn from the results of existing

data, attempts at furthering empirical studies will be futile.

A third limitation is the level of honesty in reporting. Whether it is the fear of

embarrassment or the stigma of being labeled by society, it is difficult to achieve entirely

accurate data results with child victims or offenders in any study. Data accuracy and participant

honesty are unique factors in that it also involves the perception and level of understanding that

participants have in the circumstances, situations, or environment addressed. For example, as

previously mentioned, one of the results stemming from the online grooming process is the belief

that the adolescent has formed or begun to form some sort of romantic relationship with the

offender. The exploitation of this belief by offenders, along with the desensitization towards sex,

results in already vulnerable youths being unable to comprehend properly what is or has

happened.

When co-mingled, such limitations may explain why the most recent studies regarding

SNS facilitated child exploitation simply acknowledge the concerns over social networks rather

than offer conclusions. In addition, these limitations may also be the reason why interpreting

existing data since the mid-2000’s has remained complicated. A collective review of the three

Youth Internet Safety Surveys by the Crimes against Children Research Center explains that in

each successive survey, the number of reported unwanted sexual solicitations had decreased

(from 19% in 2000 to 13% in 2005 and 9% in 2010) and the number of aggressive solicitations

remained the same (3-4%). At the same time, however, the funding for CEP-related law

enforcement programs continues to grow and the number of arrests made by the Internet Crimes

against Children Task Force increases as well. If the national surveys suggest child solicitation

is decreasing, arrest numbers should reflect these supposed declines.

Dr. Finkelhor and colleagues suggest that the reduction in unwanted sexual solicitations

in chat rooms is in part due to increased awareness amongst adolescents and an increase in the

training of law enforcement. While this may be true, one cannot ignore the migration of many

chat room users to social networks beginning in the mid-2000s. Furthermore, while it is

commendable that operations conducted by law enforcement agents to arrest perpetrators have

been successful, researchers should consider the fact that if these investigators were not present

to accept an offender’s advances the recipient of the predatory advances would likely have been

an actual teenager. Despite the fact that the encounter resulted in an arrest, a decline in this type

of offender behavior is not inherently implied.

Finally, as an example of how quickly results become outdated, we look at the statement

made by one study, which states that Social Networks are not the sole cause of child exploitation

and having an SNS account does not predispose adolescents to child exploitation more than chat

rooms. At the time of publication in 2008, this statement may have held some truth due to the

fact that social networks were young and chat rooms remained separate. Since that time,

however, chat room functionality has been integrated into social networks and in mobile

applications like KIK. In addition, while social networks may not cause CEP, numerous studies

suggest that that SNS and MSN do aid in the cyber grooming process and therefore play a role in

the overall crime.

Recommendations

From the late 1980’s to approximately 2011, the majority of research regarding Internet-

facilitated CEP focused on the characteristics of offenders, aspects of offender methodology, and

characteristics of potential victims. Beyond these subjects, there are several other opportunities

for research. One technology-based opportunity for research involves detection software. While

many parents, child advocates, and investigators worry about offenders hiding their true

identities and ages, many forget that adolescents, for a variety of reasons, are also capable of

lying about their age in order to gain access to products and services that are designed for those

18 years of age and older. In the world of social networks, one such example is that of Tinder, a

location based matchmaking application that has a version for users under the age of 18 and one

for those 18 and older. It would be interesting to see if detection software and language analysis

could be combined to identify the true ages of users. While this may not help in detecting

offenders, it may certainly assist in detecting adolescents who misrepresent or falsify their age

while signing up for services for which they are actually ineligible. With such technology,

companies like Tinder and Facebook can inform the user that their registration appears to be

fraudulent and the appropriate safety measures will be placed on the accounts.

Additionally, these safety measures also serve as an additional area of opportunity.

Whether it is software detection of an underage user or an adolescent honestly representing their

age, the activation of age-appropriate filters and related safety features may help decrease the

online disinhibition effect, reduce the amount of information that is available to offenders and

reduce the level of accessibility that the adult version of the SNS might provide. It would be

interesting to see if safety features designed specifically for underage users could activate upon

registration. If these safety measures are effective, studies should show a decrease in the amount

of information offenders are able to obtain from SNS and a corresponding decrease in the

amount of reported solicitation attempts.

Conclusion

Social networking sites and mobile technology have transformed social connectivity by

providing a myriad of real-time opportunities to maintain, establish, or build upon existing social

relationships. These opportunities, however, come with risks. The dark side of social

networking is filled with illegal activity committed by various criminals from around the world.

One such category is that of cyber-sex offenders who seek to exploit adolescents by convincing

them to engage in sexually explicit conversations and/or activities.

By first observing the online environment and scanning usernames, cyber-sex offenders

are able to identify potential targets before ever making contact. Research has shown that

vulnerable older adolescents are the primary targets of online sex offenders because they easily

fall victim to the cyber grooming process. Similar to the grooming process in offline child

abuse, cyber grooming is the process by which offenders use common likes and dislikes, similar

histories, and understanding to build trust with an adolescent. The use of an entrapment cycle

allows the offender to introduce sexually explicit material and conversation slowly while

simultaneously allowing the adolescent victim to believe that he or she is in some sort of a

romantic relationship with the offender. Once the offender has confidence in the level of trust

between themselves and the victim, their true intentions will then be revealed. During the mid-

1990s and early 2000’s, this process was dependent upon the conversational finesse the offender

had in a chat room. With the introduction and subsequent advancement of social networks and

mobile technology, this process is enhanced and hastened.

The majority of empirical research that has been conducted to date focuses on the

characteristics of offenders, the offline vulnerabilities and characteristics of potential victims,

and the methodology employed by these offenders. Unfortunately, research efforts regarding the

area of Internet-facilitated child exploitation, seems to have significantly reduced since 2011 and

very few studies have attempted to examine the latest forms of social connectivity, despite the

introduction of applications within applications, disappearing data, and anonymous social

networks. In addition to now being outdated, the few studies and surveys that have tried to

establish a relationship between social networks and cyber child exploitation conflict with the

continued increase in arrest numbers and the expansion of several law enforcement cyber

investigative programs.

This study suggested the necessity for further research in the area of social networks as

they relate to online child exploitation, providing a foundation upon which future research can be

built. By identifying the key features and functions of SNS and mobile technology that

contribute to CEP, criteria for evaluating future websites and applications can be developed. In

addition, it may be possible to develop language analysis software that detects underage users

and subsequently employs safety filters specific to that age group. By coming together in a

collaborative approach, experts from a variety of fields including legal, socio-economics, and

psychology can produce studies that assist law enforcement, parents, and child advocates in

effectively teaching, monitoring, and protecting society’s youngest and most vulnerable

members from the dangers presented by sexual offenders using the resources of social

networking sites.

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