As Generative AI continues to advance, we are confronted with an insidious threat: financial sextortion. This modern exploitation leverages AI’s capabilities to manipulate and extort individuals, posing serious ethical and financial risks. The ease of creating deepfakes has also led to an increase in cyberbullying. Victims, many children, are targeted with fake videos or images, leading to harassment, social isolation, depression and fear. Many children will never disclose these crimes out of fear of not being believed, even though the images or videos are fake.
More than ever our children, parents and caregivers must be equipped with skills to deal with online threats. We must take action by reducing the barriers so children feel they can go to a trust adult and ask for help. They need to know it is not their fault. As a community education partner with NCMEC, HTPA is equipped to provide age-appropriate education that will empower our youth to know how to respond to online blackmail and other forms of online exploitation.
In addition to education, we at HTPA are advocating for safer laws. We believe we can all do something to eradicate online exploitation. Join us in this fight: get educated, become a Champion of Change. #endchildexploitation