Video Transcript

Supervisory Special Agent Tim Wolford: Hello, my  name is Special Agent Tim Wolford. I am the supervisor of the FBI’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Task Force in Pittsburgh, PA. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this important message.

Children active online and on social media are at an elevated risk of exploitation from child predators.  The number of children victimized through social media has risen at an alarming rate within the last few years.  According to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, reports of online enticement increased 300% from 2021 to 2023.  Just in the year 2023, the NCMEC Cyber tip-line has received close to 36 million reports. 

Here at FBI Pittsburgh, we are working hard to identify and arrest child predators and rescue victims.  But we can’t do this alone.  Parents and caretakers are the first line of defense.  Your child’s safety begins in the home.  Too often, by the time law enforcement gets involved much of the damage is done.  Additionally, online predators often use sophisticated techniques to hide their identity or reside outside of our jurisdiction in countries that do not recognize or cooperate with our legal process.  It is imperative that parents and caretakers establish boundaries with their children’s use of social media to protect them online.

Parental controls are a helpful tool that to an extent can mitigate some threats children are facing from online predators, but no software or firewall is 100 percent effective.  Children have become increasingly savvy at finding ways around firewalls and hiding their online activity from parents and school administrators.

This is why I want to encourage parents and caretakers to have serious discussions about what kind of device your child is given or what, if any, social media presence they have.  A smart phone or tablet presents a portal for anyone in the world to communicate with your child through encrypted apps and messaging platforms.  While most parents would not allow their children to walk alone in the middle of the night through the red-light district of a major metropolitan area, you should be equally cautious about your child’s online activity.  Ask yourself, is the benefit of having a device worth the risk?

In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Academy of Pediatrics released an advisory declaring a “Youth Mental Health Crisis.”  The advisory cites CDC statistics showing a 40 percent increase over the last decade in the number of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. Moreover, suicide rates among teens and young adults have gone up by 57 percent since 2007.  The advisory included research on the negative psychological effects of social media as a contributing factor.  This increase in teen suicide began in 2007, the same year the first smart phone was introduced to the world. In its first year on the market, upwards of 1.4 million smart phones were sold. By 2008, that number would reach 11.6 million.  The number of global smartphone users in 2023 is estimated at 6.9 billion and is expected to rise to 7.7 billion by 2027.

It’s difficult to quantify the impact this rise in new technology has had on our youth, but these numbers indicate there is a correlation between the use of smart phones and social media and rising numbers in depression and suicide rates among teenagers.  Not to mention the increased numbers in online exploitation I mentioned earlier. 

Personal devices in the hands of children and teenagers enable more pornography access as well as easier sharing with peers, generally undetected by parents.  Many parental controls block access to websites with adult content, but children are increasingly viewing and sharing pornography through direct messaging on social media platforms.  These devices also provide children tools to make their own pornographic content, which they are often manipulated into sharing with online predators who extort or coerce them into producing more explicit content or engaging in face-to-face sexual encounters.

Many parents allow their children to use cell phones and social media because they are worried their children will be socially isolated without them. Our assessment is the risk of depression, sexual exploitation, and isolation that results from the use of these devices far outweighs any social isolation that would result from taking them away. You will ultimately have to decide what’s best for your child.  The FBI is committed to pursuing child predators and bringing them to justice, but parents are the front line of defense for their kids.  As you prepare for the coming school year, take some time to talk to your children about their online activity and create boundaries that will keep them safe from online exploitation.

If you have any questions or concerns, or feel that your children or a child you know is being victimized online, please contact your local law enforcement or call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Together, we can all keep our children safe online.