“Capping”, the new risk for children and adolescents on the internet

This September 23 marks the International Day against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Women, Girls and Boys, and a recent study conducted by the Knowledge Center of the Safe-Viguías Internet Center found that one of the main elements highlighting in danger the well-being of the miners of the network would be the self-generated content, sometimes directly requested by their attackers.

According to research, there are several motivations for under-18s to create this content on their own, one of which is the need to feel part of a consensual relationship, by means of flirtation to gain someone else’s romantic attraction and even to peer pressure or their same partners.

Self-generated content is said to emerge in environments such as the practice of peer sexting or its exposure on video chat platforms has provoked the search for social acceptance. It would be in such environments that the so-called “Styling”, It’s the convincing minors to engage in sexual activity on video chat platforms while they are secretly recorded, then share those recordings without your knowledge.

In addition to “capping”, attackers would use other practice-oriented methods such as grooming and the sextortion to get these self-generated materials. One of the methods would involve participation in vulnerable digital environments such as social media, video chats, online video games and live streaming services, when there are no sufficiently effective measures to prevent contact with victims.

Regarding the profile of those most frequently affected, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told the women and girls as the main victims of sexual exploitation using self-generated content, with 50% and 20% of the cases, respectively.

Some of the common characteristics found in those most vulnerable to developing this type of content would involve the presence of symptoms of depression, use of the Internet for non-school purposes for long periods of time, and access to electronic devices without adequate supervision. to mention some representative details.

Girls between 11 and 13 are the main victims, according to statistics from the Internet Watch Foundation, which show that this demographic is close to the 80% of reports in cases involving self-generated content.

Faced with the risk of being a victim of “capping”, a recommendation made by the executive director of the organization Red Papaz, Carolina Piñeros, is to know that If someone asks for something to be done in front of the camera, it’s because they are recording it and you can use it later. He also invites us to explore this new threat, which is little talked about in the region and to which minors are endangered in various digital environments without even realizing it.

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