Kripos: Children and young people in Norway are increasingly sharing videos of abuse and violence

According to Kripos (the National Criminal Investigation Service), more and more “exposed accounts” are being created on social media, managed by children as young as 11 years old. The content shared is getting rougher and rougher.

The purpose of such accounts is to expose others. According to Kripos, the consequences for those who are exposed via such accounts can be very serious.

“We see that such accounts are set up all over the country. These accounts share nude photos and videos of children, videos of violence and threats,” section leader Lise Matheson at the National Cybercrime Center (NC3) at Kripos said.

Over time, Kripos has registered that an increasing proportion of the shared material has become coarser. Some of the material shared on the exposed accounts are sexualized images or films that children have voluntarily produced and sent to someone they know. The photos or videos have since been shared.

“Sharing videos of violence and abuse material is illegal. Police see that children who are exposed to such sharing struggle to go to school or complete schoolwork, are exposed to bullying, lose friends, have anxiety and low self-esteem, develop substance abuse problems, and in extreme situations, they try to take their own lives,” Matheson said.

Police see that the administrators of exposed accounts are young, some as young as 11 years old. Their motivation varies, but increased social status and financial gain through selling the account are among the recurring motives.

The largest accounts have a significant number of followers.

Source : NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

Do you have a news tip for Norway Today? We want to hear it. Get in touch at [email protected]