Social Media Analyst Tendai Luwo says parents who continuously use their children to create content on social media pose a risk to their lives.
This as the rise in child exploitation facilitated through social media platforms is becoming a concerning trend.
Luwo says parents should be aware of the content they put out there.
He says the spotlight of social media on children will later affect them in life.
“If you are putting your child out there in front of the public, there is a psychological aspect that might not be present in the here and now, but you need to be cognizant of it in the long term and in the long run. So, I think if those parents are going to do it, it does need to be a very honest conversation, you need to look at what are your key motivators and are you now then putting undue pressure on this child. It is a sensitive one and I think each family needs to take it on a case-by-case basis and put all considerations into place.”
Meanwhile, Cyber Security and Internet Governance Specialist, Doreen Mokoena says child exploitation online has become the second biggest trend next to cyber security.
“Once we embrace emerging technologies, we also need to embrace the criminal and unethical practices that comes with consuming the internet. For instance right now we have criminals actually using artificial intelligence (AI) to create images of children dressed in an inappropriate manner, hence it’s very crucial for us to actually say listen at this point I know sexual grooming and sexting is actually one of the biggest trends that we are being confronted with.”
