find last fall on our website, d, w dot com. ah, today we're talking about cyber grooming a topic which could be traumatizing for some people. it's a growing problem at the moment with teenagers and kids increasingly being sexually harassed, online and virtual worlds are unfortunately, given grim is an ideal hunting ground. so what can be done against cyber grooming? it's a heavy topic, but an important one today on shift, ah, this is the dark side of the internet. predators mostly men are jumping online to build trusting relationships with manas. they aim to groom their victims for sexual relations, 84 percent of these victims. a girl's children as young as 10 years old, a being approached, and the cyber groom is a well versed in the art of exploitation. it's nothing new, of course,

but now they're using virtual worlds, which are extremely popular with kids. it's a perfect place for groomers to act anonymously, or a horrible fond of children in virtual strip clubs, partaking in simulated sexual intercourse with adults. this happened in the popular, apt, v. r, chat, incidents like these are why some have already called the metaphors a paradise for perverts and a breeding ground for sex offenders. a british child protection charity, the national society for the prevention of cruelty to children, has called some b r. abs dangerous by design or virtual reality allows us to dive into a make believe digital world. but the same thing that makes it so exciting can also make it dangerous, harmful and traumatic for children. when we talk about sexual exploitation in the members that we have to understand is that we are fully immersed for lee has

intentionally embodied in a digital and environment. it is no longer a video game that we're observing. mazama asks you to participate in something sexual, inappropriate within the members. there are serious psychological and physiological implications that we cannot underestimate. research has shown that children experience the are differently from adults as their brain is still developing. they can't always tell the difference between virtual worlds and real life. researchers say that children could even form memories based on virtual experiences. which means that sexual abuse, that occurs online, could turn into a traumatic memory and reality. it's a parent's worst nightmare and as via will become even more immersive. the danger for kids only increases as professor steiner come from the university of humbug explains the fog of the the aisles when an innocent how real this type of

experience can be depends on the technology being used and the way things are depicted in the virtual world then the food we call this sense of presence to the higher the sense of presence of the more i believe that what i see seems real eyes, that the place is and experiences are actually their home. and this is also true and you experience very beautiful moments, but of course it can also make you very nervous or lead to anxiety or fear not just or touched her. and to make matters even worse. most of these via wolves don't even use stringent age checks, which could at least provide an extra layer of protection. what we need to understand is that current system in which the technology is being developed does not prioritize the needs of the child's and mass leaves our children vulnerable to harms antique creditors and to explanation. as long as these via platforms fail to find solutions and don't take this problem seriously,

children will remain at risk. roblox has made headlines in the past. it bows $58000000.00 uses per day, and around a quarter of those a younger than 13 years old. until recently, groomers were able to create virtual sex games on roy blocks and draw in their online victims with the promise of cash. and ro blocks, children were repeatedly lowered into so called condos. private areas of the platform developed vague rumors and pedophile, where virtual sex games are also possible. what happens there is described by the us and g o common sense media in a report. minors offer virtual dances and sexual acts, as well as nude photographs off platform, 2 adults and exchange for ro bucks, which can be converted into real money. so called self generated. sexual content by children has skyrocketed in recent years. it now accounts for almost 72 percent of all sexual abuse content online. that's

a 28 percent increase in 2021. the images and videos mainly involve girls aged 11 to 13. overall, a global study from 2021 found that 34 percent of children have been asked to do something sexually explicit online. recently, roblox has made efforts to combat cyber grooming in their games. roblox isn't the only platform struggling to get ahold of the cyber grooming problem. it's clear that they all need to up their game. in many v r apps, users can block abusive players. any grooming abuse should be reported to the platforms who in turn can suspend the groomers account. currently, however, offenders can easily return with a new one. is actually looking at what procedures have and protocols that we put into place to ensure that whoever they say they are is actually who they are. so

that we can have a 50 year old pretending to be a 15 year old in the matter verse. that's actually quite simple to do and not a huge, technologically technological challenge for us. it just hasn't been done because it here in a nation, if you have commercialization. one of the biggest challenges is that many companies at the forefront of met averse development have a track record of facilitating harmful practices online like mehta, formerly known as facebook. and instagram. having said that matter has just announced to offer new protective measures for their quest to be our headset. parents will now be able to deny purchases, block apps, view screen time, and see who the child has added as a friend. more and more companies pledge to make child safety a priority epic games publisher of popular online games fortnight. and lego have announced a new cooperation at a cost of $2000000000.00 us dollars. they want to make a commitment to child safety. however,

it is still unclear whether this will become a separate metaphors project just for children, of course. so i, the grooming isn't just restricted to the med of us grimace. have even use seemingly harmless playlists on spotify to try and lower in victims. i invite kids to playlists and then using the description field, they ask kids to post nudes in the playlists profile picture. this stuff is happening where you'd least expected. the authorities can't keep up, but they are trying to fight the issue with the help of artificial intelligence. the language of the perpetrators is an important key here. me, it's once a university and we'll have linguistics. professor noreah, lorenzo duce and her team are developing the dragon sputter a software meant to spot online cyber grooming. ready which images, videos so so one to try and persuade,

manipulate a child to engage in sexual activity, change online, and also offline. and i thought we should apply techniques, language and communication that kind of research with the child. identify those strategies with those type of things where to create children. ah, the software consists of a machine learning algorithm and a large amount of creaming chat protocols. the linguists detect communication patterns used by agreement to manipulate their victims. the algorithm is trained to detect patterns like empathetic language, explicitly requesting sex, as well as ambiguous insinuations precisely depending on how we change the context in which it is used and so on. so there has been very much the tire rotation by

a few miles off within it seem to age. for this project, the dragon spotter has already been successfully tested by british in australian police for reasons of confidentiality, dis, can't go into more detail. types of him. ne, intended use artist or inforcement for anybody else, and it's not meant to be a decision maker, is meant to support an informed decision making by the expert. the project is also trying to help education workers recognize growing patterns early to prevent the abuse happening in the 1st place. it's a mine field for parents, especially if they've never actually been to the met averse themselves. if i had kids, i honestly wouldn't have a clue where to start to his. just a few tips on how to foot cyber grooming from the safety of your own home. tip one,

familiarize yourself with the met averse. discovering virtual worlds can help parents understand what their children experience online. currently 2 thirds of parents with children, between 5 and 10, don't know how the metaphors works. so do your own research, experienced it and experiment with the technology yourself. and also have clear communication with your child about what their interest is in the, in the bottom of the metaphors. if your child downloads and new app or he are application within the headset. and you again have to do that research and understand exactly who your child will have the opportunity to interact with. tip to make use of technological tools. increasingly v r headsets and v are apps like roadblocks come with a safe mode. this restricts the possibilities for children and enables parents to monitor chats and contact this way. inappropriate language in chats and interactions with adults can be limited. tip 3,

be suspicious. you never know if the person behind an avatar or chat partner is really who they say they are. therefore, you should always be suspicious online, especially when you're using a new platform for the 1st time tip for don't reveal too much information. groomers try to win their victims trust. anything you say online or reveal on your profile or avatar can be used against you by groomers, personal information like name, age or where you live or especially sensitive and should not be revealed. many grim is will also eventually want to meet face to face. it's obviously best to avoid this. but if you do end up meeting someone in person, choose a public setting and bring a might along with u. v r worlds should be a place for everyone to feel safe, but develop has need to do a lot more to ensure use safety. on top of that. authorities also need to move with

the times and find a way to enforce existing laws against child abuse online. this is not a novelty technology. this is not another game. this is a, the next evolution of how will be, will be interacting as human beings in the future. we have an opportunity right now to plant the seeds for positive experiences in the met a verse. have you ever come across, saw the grooming in virtual worlds. let us know, that's it from us today. see you next time. ah ah, she took a delicate slip swisher push nickel sheet. any chip mean fish like unless his teeth by witnesses report in mary you pull a story of resilience rushes more in ukraine. one years since the invasion began,

we take a look back and into the future in slow green. in february on d. w. minions, i would, i am glad lana cnas keania. i am running for president of the republic of bellow, a john dunder, searches for the truth. again. this time, the exiled turkish journalist meets svetlana, itsyana, sky, exiled leader of the opposition and bella roost. i mean, of course i'm tired, i'm tired. physically untied morally, is too much on my shoulders, but i have to hold this weight because i'm responsible for the future of our country for the people far behind the guardians of truth.