“Shocking Truth: Popular App Becomes Haven for Criminals and Child Predators – What Parents Must Know”

By Familyguide Contributor

Authorities are sounding the alarm about a new “dark web” platform and offering guidance to parents on safeguarding their children.

Benjamin Bull, who serves as General Counsel and Senior Vice President at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, shed light on Telegram, a social media application that has become a hub for “criminals looking to trade illicit materials, including child exploitation content.”

“The platform’s appeal to nefarious actors stems from its encryption capabilities,” he explained to Familyguide. “It allows for completely private exchanges, whether that’s images, illegal firearms, cryptocurrency, or even human trafficking.”

Telegram recently made headlines when its CEO Pavel Durov was taken into custody by French officials. The charges included complicity in the distribution of child exploitation material, illegal substances, and hacking tools on the app, as well as failing to cooperate with law enforcement investigations into illicit activities on the platform.

In response to the arrest, Telegram issued a statement saying, “Pavel Durov has nothing to conceal and regularly travels within Europe. It’s preposterous to suggest that a platform or its owner bears responsibility for user misconduct.”

Bull added, “Durov has cultivated an image of being uncooperative with law enforcement and government agencies. This stance has only attracted more bad actors to the platform, who feel they can operate without accountability.”

Telegram was featured on the NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen list, an annual campaign that “calls out twelve mainstream entities for enabling, facilitating, or profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation,” according to their website.

“While platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram claim to oppose child exploitation material, their enforcement measures are woefully inadequate,” Bull noted. “Children are being manipulated through sophisticated algorithms and marketing techniques. These companies employ the world’s best manipulators, and there’s currently no legislation to prevent such practices.”

He mentioned the Kids Online Safety Act, which aims to compel tech companies to implement measures protecting children on their platforms.

“It’s a starting point, not a complete solution. The act doesn’t restrict internet content but prevents manipulative algorithms from targeting children,” he clarified.

Bull’s primary advice for concerned parents? “Keep your children off social media entirely.”

Familyguide previously reported on the Kids Online Safety Act:

The Senate has passed two bills aimed at enhancing online privacy protections for children and reducing targeted advertising directed at young users.

The Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing with a 91-3 vote.

“This exemplifies why we’re here – to accomplish things in a bipartisan manner that will genuinely save lives,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., stated.

Blumenthal collaborated with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. to craft the Kids Online Safety Act.

“Our goal is to empower parents and children with tools to disengage from harmful content, including bullying and content promoting eating disorders. We’re also imposing a duty of care on Big Tech companies that have long said ‘trust us’ while betraying that trust,” he added. “Now, they’ll be legally obligated to mitigate or prevent harm.”