Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
While stricter legislation and increased public education can curb the success of sexual predators trading local pornography online, Guardian Media cybersecurity expert Randall Maharaj says it is difficult for authorities to track these crimes.
A Guardian Media exposé yesterday revealed that hundreds of people are buying and selling nude photographs and videos of children and women via the social media app Telegram. It includes child rape videos and AI-manipulated images of women.
While the T&T Police Service (TTPS) is encouraging victims to report these crimes, Maharaj said it will be hard to track. He said because Telegram allows users to register without a phone number, it is the preferred app for illegal activities.
However, he said people can report offensive content to Telegram.
“For the police, it is hard because they will need cooperation from Telegram. Telegram most likely will not cooperate unless they have some court direction. For the police to get a court document to pursue that, you know how long that takes in this country, and then you need to know if there is international cooperation,” Maharaj said yesterday.
As it relates to perverts stealing people’s photos and manipulating them, he said the onus lies on social media users to restrict what they post online. Making their accounts private and only accepting people they trust can help.
“Once you have a picture out there, like a full body shot with your face visible, and it is online, anybody could take that and manipulate it however they wish. There is no way right now to stop that, and if they are trending in Telegram groups, I would suggest immediately reporting it to Telegram.”
Maharaj said AI-manipulated nudes are happening worldwide, as it does not require advanced technical skills or fancy computers.
“You can upload a picture of anybody, and AI will look at their body type and remove all their clothes. You get your first few images free, and you pay as you go along. A couple of years ago, engineers were the ones who could do these. Now, online businesses can do this with two or three clicks. Imagine, in two years, the technology may be so advanced that they can do videos with people,” he said.
Meanwhile, clinical and forensic traumatologist Haniff Benjamin said child pornography distribution can be doubly traumatising for children, especially those who suffered rape. Benjamin said it can lead to severe depression and suicidal tendencies.
For school children, Benjamin said, images could get around quickly. He recalled the emergence of the Pretty Pipers Instagram account a year ago that exposed young girls engaged in sexual acts. Another issue was the willingness of people to pay for child pornography, unconcerned about its origin.
Benjamin said children often experience harsh reactions from their families when sexual acts get exposed on video. However, he said families should not condemn children in these situations. Instead, they should get them psychological help to prevent them from isolating or hurting themselves.
“We also need to have schools that can manage this situation. If it comes out in the school, whether the child got raped, the school also has a responsibility to ensure that they speak. Whether at an assembly or whatever, talk about these circumstances and scenarios and ensure that the children are not further traumatised or re-traumatised based on the scenario,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin said although there is legislation and the court set precedents, there is a need for stricter penalties that deter violations. He said even when people willingly record their sexual conduct and one partner releases it because they are upset, the law must discourage it.
Benjamin said T&T is on a list of the highest porn-consuming countries and while people are surprised when these crimes occur, T&T is a part of a global village where the good, bad and ugly exist. Therefore, he was not surprised, saying T&T is a highly sexualised society. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Benjamin said there is a trend of more children being exposed to sex and sexual behaviour.
“I see this every day in my practice with children as young as seven engaging in sexual behaviours and looking at pornography. Many children got hooked because they were exposed to it so much for two and a half years. They ventured, and some innocently ended in this sexual vortex.”
Head of the TTPS’ Special Victims Department, Snr Supt Claire-Guy Alleyne, said no reports came to her yesterday. However, she could not say whether victims reported at any police station.
Meanwhile, DCP Suzette Martin said the TTPS would develop a multi-agency approach and expend all available resources to investigate and apprehend those involved in internet-related criminal activities.
“I want to urge members of the public who may have information on these types of crime to please come forward.”
Yesterday as well, some of the facilitators of the online sites, which number over 20, engaged in conversations about how their activity had been leaked with Guardian Media.
When similar operations were exposed previously, most facilitators changed their names and those of their sites and carried on with their activity.