FPB flags rise in CSAM, sextortion and intimate-image complaints - IOL

The Film and Publication Board says it analysed more than 1.3 million items during the previous financial year, including 9 250 containing child sexual abuse material. The warning comes as police investigate a Malmesbury teenager allegedly linked to an international online exploitation network.

The Film and Publications Board (FPB) said it was seeing a concerning increase in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and this, for the authority, has indicated a worrying problem of perpetrators possessing such content.

During the previous financial year, the FPB  said 1, 325,103 items of content were analysed, of which 9 250 contained CSAM.

It said advanced technologies were being used to bypass law-enforcement agencies on the dark web without detection.

Manala Botolo, assistant manager of communications at the FPB, explained that analysing such material was important for prosecutions.

“We continue to observe the growing trends with concern,” said Botolo.

“The Films and Publications Act prohibits the use of children in and exposure of children to child pornography. Possessing, producing and distributing child pornography is a criminal offence.

“The FPB works closely with the Law Enforcement Agencies in combating the possession, distribution, creation of CSAM by assisting in the analysis of content and providing expert evidence in court in order to maintain successful prosecution of the perpetrators.

“The cases that the FPB has worked on thus far does indicate a worrying problem of perpetrators in possession of such content.”

The FPB said it had experienced challenges during the previous financial year because of the high volume of content requiring assessment.

Botolo added that social-media platforms should ensure harmful and illegal content was removed from their platforms, saying criminals were trying to avoid detection.

“Advanced technologies and the use of the dark web, people are finding ways to access such material without being detected. We believe that the dark web plays a huge role in the accessing of such content,” said Botolo.

“The dark web is like the hidden part of the internet, not accessible to the public through your regular search engines or browsers. It's intentionally kept secret and requires special software to enter.”

When asked how the dark web worked, Botolo said: “To keep your online activities private, the dark web uses advanced encryption, different from what you use every day. Users need special browsers, like Tor, to create secret tunnels for accessing it. This way, no one can snoop on what you're doing.

“We continue to educate members of the public, parents, learners and teachers about the dangers of social media through our education and awareness initiatives.

“Sharing intimate images without the consent of the person appearing in the image and demanding payments is a criminal offence.

“On the FPB hotline we are seeing a lot of complaints relating to the non-consensual sharing of explicit images and videos, which also ties with sextortion.

“We do have processes in place to assist the complainants, but in most cases, you find that the complainant does not go ahead with the matter. We continue to conduct a study on the impact of social media to guide our regulatory interventions, and these trends are receiving our attention.”

Botolo said schools were also part of the FPB’s efforts to combat the crime.

“The FPB has the Regional Advocacy and outreach team that continue to engage schools and communities on online safety measures and channels for reporting,” said Botolo.

“Communities and schools are encouraged to reach out to the FPB and are encouraged to attend our sessions. Parents and schools should continue to educate children about the dangers of social media and the importance of monitoring the kids’ online activities.”

The FPB’s data comes as violent online networks commonly referred to as “764” — believed to be operating in South Africa — were recently uncovered in Malmesbury following the arrest of a 16-year-old boy in August.

The teen was arrested for allegedly accessing, possessing, facilitating and downloading child sexual abuse material following a collaboration between the police and international law-enforcement agencies.

Police said their National Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) team had acted on intelligence received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Embassy and the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

According to police, the teenager was traced to his home in Malmesbury and was believed to be linked to the violent online networks commonly known as “764”, which are suspected to operate in the country.

Some of the equipment found on the teenager when he was arrested.

Police said the “764” networks were violent international online extremist networks associated with child exploitation. These perpetrators reportedly target, blackmail and coerce minors into online sexual abuse, torture and the killing of animals, as well as other forms of harmful criminal activity.

Police added that, during a review of the teenager’s electronic devices, they discovered explicit images and videos depicting child sexual abuse and animal mutilation.

He faces more than 11 charges, including child pornography, sexual exploitation, sexual assault, animal cruelty and issuing threats.