Sharing children's daily activities on social media sex crime risk

KUALA LUMPUR: Parents' sharing of their children's daily activities through photographs and location check-ins openly on social media invites the risk of committing sexual crimes, said Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) principal assistant director ACP Siti Kamsiah Hassan.

She said the information in question attracts sex offenders, especially pedophiles, to plan criminal acts.

"Be careful when posting anything as the impact from a single photograph can lead to crimes such as sexual extortion," she said when she appeared as a guest on the Bernama TV programme 'Apa Khabar Malaysia' today.

"For those who are entering the teenage years, such as those aged 12 and 13, they can leave home (without control) and meet the perpetrators, and this leads to cases of rape, sexual abuse and others... all of these starting with just posting on social media."

Siti Kamsiah said parents should control their children's activities on social media, in addition to them (parents) being the persons most trusted by their children to share problems with.

This is because children who are entering their teenage years could potentially be baited by a pedophiles who are 'ready' to share the teenagers' problems.

Meanwhile, Siti Kamsiah also said that based on statistics from the Royal Malaysia Police, cases of sexual crime recorded a 15 per cent increase last year compared to 9.6 per cent in 2022.

-- BERNAMA