rachel stuart, and i'm hosting dw is new podcasts. don't strengthen, else bothers, don't actually of, i'll know join us as we travel around your, facing the history of every day of that. and that's something right around the world. no need to talk about justice subscriber id, listen to pop. gosh, that will take you along to the right. the . today we're talking about side of gaming 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 such a wells are unfortunately given grim is an ideal hunting ground. so what can be done again side of grinning? it's a heavy topic, but an important one. today on the, this is the dock side of the internet. predators, mostly men are jumping online to build trusting relationships with minus the aim to

groom the victims for sexual relations. 84 percent of these victims a goals. children as young as 10 years old being approached, and the sort of grim is a well versed in the art of exploitation. it's nothing new, of course, but now they using virtual worlds, which are extremely popular with kids. it's a perfect place for grim is to ask anonymously. all a horrible fond children and virtual strip clubs, part taking in simulated sexual intercourse with adults. this happened in the popular app v. r. chat. incidents like these are why some have already called the men of verse 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 of the are apps dangerous by design. the original reality allows us

to dive into a make believe digital world. but the same thing that makes it some exciting can also make it dangerous, harmful and dramatic for children. when we talk about the sexual exploitation in the members, but we have to understand is that we are fully immersed fully present and fully embodied in the digital environment. it is no longer a video game that we're observing when someone asked you to participate in something sexual, inappropriate within the members. there are serious psychological and busy logical 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 the sexual abuse that occurs online could turn into a traumatic memory and reality the it's

a parent's worst nightmare and it's v i will, is become even more. and most of the day, just the kids only increases as professor stein to come from. the university of humbug explains the photography the i, as when i lived in this fine, how real this type of experience can be, depends on the technology being used. and the way things are depicted in the virtual world and we call this sense of presence, you please to the higher the sense of presence and all the more i believe that when i see seems real is that the place is an experience is, are actually there meant this is also true when you experience very beautiful moments, but of course i can also make you very nervous, or lead to anxiety or fear is that, you know, they start task. and to make matters even worse. most of these via worlds don't even use stringent age checks, which could at least provide an extra layer of protection. what we need to understand is that the current system in which the technology is being developed

that does not prioritize the needs of the child. and that leaves our children verbal, to harms and to predators. and to exploitation. as long as these v or platforms fail to find solutions and don't take these problems seriously, children will remain at risk. roadblocks 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, groom is able to create virtual 6 games on roadblocks enroll in the online victims with the promise of cash on roadblocks, children were repeatedly lowered into so called condos private areas of the platform developed by groomers and pet of files. we're virtual sex games are also possible. what happens there is described by the us and g o common sense media in a report. minor as offer virtual dances and sexual acts, as well as nude photographs off platform. 2 adults and exchange for robots 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 age to 11 to 13. overall, a global study from 2021 found that 34 percent of children has been asked to do something, sexual explicit online. the recently roadblocks has made efforts to combat cyber grooming and their games roadblocks isn't the only platform struggling to get ahold of the side of grooming problem. it's clear that they all need to up their game us and many v are apps. users can block abusive players. any grooming,

abuse should be reported to the platforms who in turn can suspend to 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 the 50 year old pretending to be a 15 year old in the matter of hers. that's actually quite simple to do and not a huge, technologically technological challenge for us. it just hasn't been done because of fear of innovation, of care of commercialization. one of the biggest challenges is that many companies at the forefront of men of verse 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 purchase is block apps view screen time and see who the child is added as a friend. more and more companies pledge to make child safety

a priority. epic games, publisher of popular online games for tonight, and lego have announced a new cooperation at a cost of $2000000000.00 us dollars. they want to make a commitment to a child safety. however, it is still unclear whether this will become a separate manager as project just for children, of course. so either grooming isn't just restricted to the men of us. grooms have even use seemingly harmless playlists on spot to fly, to try and bore in victims, and bought kids to playlists. and then using the description field, they ask kids to pose nude in the playlist profile picture. this stuff is happening way, you least expect that. the authorities concave pop, but they are trying to fight the issue with the help of artificial intelligence. the language of the perpetrators is an important key here. a it's one see university in wales linguistics. professor norion lorenzo deuce and her team are developing the dragon sputter software meant to spot online cyber

grooming. ready ready so let me use which i understand, you know, take most of the images, videos on so you know, so, so want to try and persuade learning. today it's a child to gauge little so much any do section activity on line. i also offline and i thought we should really be able to apply techniques from language and communication that kind of research with a child, identify what those strategies with those types of things where to find the software consists of a machine learning algorithm and a large amount of premium chat protocols, the linguists detect communication patterns you spec roommates to manipulate their victims. the algorithm is trained to detect patterns like empathetic language,

explicitly requesting sex, as well as m. thank you as insinuations precise names saying we're coming or how which is used in the context in which it is used. and so one, so that has been very much the tire rotation by a few miles off. within that same day, age based project, a dragon. sputter has already been successfully tested by british and australian police, for reasons of confidentiality, discounts, go into more detail, types of technology that we are kind of him. it's only are these intended users to investment 5 and anybody else. and it's not meant to be a decision maker is known to support inform. that's a decision making by the experts. the project is also trying to help education workers recognize green patents early to prevent the abuse happening in the 1st place. it's a mon field for parents,

especially if they've never actually been to the men of us themselves. if i had kids, i honestly wouldn't have a clue where to start. so here's just a few tips on how to flip side the building from the safety of your own home. tip one, familiarize yourself with the mental verse. 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 meta verse works. so do your own research experience and experiment with the technology yourself. and also have clear communication with your child about what their interest is in the, in the realm of them that of hers in your child. download a new app or v r 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 step to make use of technological tools. increasingly, b,

r headsets and b are apps like roadblocks come with a safe mode. this restricts the possibilities for children and enables parents to monitor chests and contacts this way. inappropriate language and chats and interactions with adults can be limited. the tip 3, be suspicious. you never know if the person behind an avatar or chat partner is really good. 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 trying to win their victims trust. anything you've seen online or reveal on your profile or avatar can be used against you bike rumors, 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 night along with you. feel worlds should be a place for everyone to feel safe, but developers need to do a lot. busy more to ensure use the 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 you will be interacting as human beings in the future. and we have an opportunity right now to plan this deeds for positive experiences and then that adverse, have you ever come across side of gaming and virtual worlds? let us know that's it from us today. so you next on the

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