The internet is a fantastic tool for communicating, sharing information, and collaborating, but users of all ages must adhere to specific guidelines in order to stay safe online. Every Internet user leaves a digital trail of data, which includes websites viewed, emails sent, and information provided to online services. Consider the data trail you’re leaving in your wake. Before writing a nasty email, keep in mind that you are leaving your digital footprint, as the message may live online indefinitely. Be more selective about what you post on social networking platforms. While you can usually delete content from social media sites, there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be able to delete digital data once it’s been shared online.
Grooming on the internet
Strangers, or even known people, form an emotional bond with a child or young person online or in person in order to gain their trust for sexual abuse or exploitation. Many youngsters and teenagers begin to acquire feelings of a particular connection or relationship and are unaware that they are being groomed.
To seduce the youngster, the perpetrators are known to utilise a variety of ways, including:
Bribing: This can include giving the child money or presents. In an online game, the gifts could be in the form of even points, lives, and in-game goodies.
Flattery: They strive to earn the child’s affection by showering them with praise and attention.Intimacy building and sexualized games: They put the child’s fragility to the test by adding slightly sexual overtones in conversation or during play. If the child responds positively to his overtures, he will try to develop a deeper relationship with him.
Desensitization: They show the child pornography and child sexual abuse material in an attempt to desensitise the child to sexual behaviours.
Threats and extortion: To acquire access to the youngster, they use forceful coercion.
When parents are unsure what the youngster will respond to, they may try all of the above in an attempt to pique the child’s interest and attention.
Sexual exploitation on the internet
The internet has also become a tool for sexually exploiting children, resulting in practises known as “online,” “ICT-facilitated,” or “cyber-enabled” child sexual exploitation, which encompasses all acts of sexual exploitation committed against a child that have, at some point, a connection to the online environment. It includes any use of ICT that leads to sexual exploitation or causes a child to be sexually exploited, or that leads to or causes the production, purchase, sale, possession, distribution, or transmission of photographs or other material documenting such exploitation.
Theft of one’s identity
Personal information such as address, email address, prior addresses, mother’s maiden name, place of birth, pin number, bank account details, Aadhaar number, and passwords is obtained by fraudsters and used in an unlawful manner for personal advantage. Companies or service providers frequently demand this information as part of their verification procedure. They can access other information about the potential victim and make unauthorised financial transactions using the victim’s credit card or bank account, as well as commit other crimes such as illegally entering (or exiting) a country, trafficking drugs, smuggling other substances, committing cyber-crimes, laundering money, and much more, by obtaining some information. They can even exploit the victim’s identity to commit nearly any crime in his or her name.
If a criminal uses another person’s identity to commit a crime, the victim may be suspected by the authorities. The victim may find themselves the subject of a criminal inquiry, and they may find it difficult to prove their innocence in such situations. Victims of financial fraud may face a slew of problems. You might be stuck with debts if your information was utilised in any type of monetary transaction. Most of the time, if you can show that the debts are not your fault, you will not be held guilty. Proving that you are not at blame, on the other hand, can be difficult and time-consuming.
Cyberbullying
When someone utilises technology (such as the internet or a mobile phone) to bully others, this is known as cyberbullying. Being a victim of cyberbullying can be extremely upsetting for a young child, especially when they often have no idea who is tormenting them. Sending threatening text messages or emails, or creating a hate group on a social networking site, are examples of cyberbullying. Bullying can occur at any time of day or night, and the victim is frequently targeted even when they are at home. On the internet, images and text messages may spread quickly and widely, making it difficult to counteract cyberbullying.
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