Now that pupils have returned to school to start the new term, police are sharing an important message with them: “Respect your mates, don’t share their nudes”.
“We’re seeing an increase in reports of young people sharing nudes online of their friends, other young people from their schools or teens they don’t even know,” says Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards from the police’s Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand team.
“These images, when shared on many of the social media platforms, get reported to the United States-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) as they’re identified on these platforms as child exploitation material which is illegal to produce, possess or distribute.
“NCMEC provides that information as a Cyber tip notification to NZ Police, Department of Internal Affairs or New Zealand Customs Service to investigate.
“While we advocate young people don’t share naked images of themselves, we know it happens.
“If you receive a nude of another young person, don’t be part of the cycle and post it somewhere else.
“Delete the message, be kind, and think about how you would feel if the image was of you.”
Richards says police know that when a young person discovers a naked image of themselves has been sent to often large numbers of their peers it can have a significant detrimental effect on their mental health.
The OCEANZ team receives multiple NCMEC Cyber tips each week related to this scenario.
“These are reviewed by investigators and appropriate action taken on a case-by-case basis.
“The action taken by police can range from a welfare visit to the young people involved, discussions with school staff or in some cases it may be appropriate that charges are considered depending on the type of material and the circumstances in which they were produced or distributed online.”
Where to report offending:
Police
105 (non-Emergency)
111 (Emergency)
Netsafe
Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282
Email: help@netsafe.org.nz(link sends e-mail)
Call us toll free on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723)
Online report form at www.netsafe.org.nz/report
Our helpline is open from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am – 5pm on weekends.
