By Henrique Rocha, DPO, Partner at Peck Advogados and Leila Hadba, intern at Peck Advogados.
Regardless of the region in which they grow up, the risks for children are many, ranging from the traditional falls resulting from their first steps, to domestic accidents, adventures at their grandparents' house, among many others that all parents (this author included) know well. However, given technological advances and the intense use of the internet and social networks, children are exposed to countless risks in what has become accustomed to being called the most dangerous street in the world, the digital street.
As digital risks already mapped by specialized companies, the practices of virtual bullying, phishing, unintentional downloads and dissemination of malware and recent precautions with Oversharing¹ are listed. An emblematic video from Deutsche Telekom presents in a didactic way the risks of overexposure of children on the internet².
Corroborating these warnings, the latest Yearbook of the National Public Security Forum, published in 2023, confirmed the increase in the rate of crimes related to Child Pornography, bringing negative highlights to the States of Acre, Amazonas and Pará, with increases in records of these crimes in the order of 500%, 146,2% and 130%, respectively.
Results found in the search
To better understand the existing scenario in the State of São Paulo, Peck Advogados conducted a survey of the cases available for consultation at the São Paulo Court of Justice, bringing relevant indicators.
After initial filters by keywords and type of procedural rite, as well as identification of cases suitable for consultation, given that these types of processes, as a rule, are confidential, 33 cases judged by Chambers at the Court of Justice were identified in the period between 2016 and 2023, all involving practices related to the crimes provided for in articles 240, 241, 241-A, 241-B, 241-C, 241-D and 241-E of the Child and Adolescent Statute – Law 8.069/90.
Most of the cases mapped were judged as a result of practices provided for in articles 241-A, 241-B and 241-C of the ECA (10), involving crimes such as Art. 241-A. Offer, exchange, make available, transmit, distribute, publish or disseminate by any means, including through a computer or telematic system, photography, video or other recording that contains an explicit or pornographic sex scene involving a child or adolescent, Art. 241- B. Acquire, possess or store, by any means, photographs, videos or other forms of recordings that contain explicit or pornographic sex scenes involving children or adolescents and Art. 241-C. Simulate the participation of a child or adolescent in an explicit or pornographic sex scene through tampering, editing or modifying photographs, videos or any other form of visual representation.
The dynamics of the cases ranged from death threats to the children's parents demanding the sending of photos and videos, to unpretentious interactions on social networks, as well as interactions involving online gaming groups. Among the applications used by criminals, it was possible to outline the purpose of each app and its respective functionality in the following cases:
Most used providers | Number of cases | Goal |
---|---|---|
292 Emule (programmer to access the Deep Web) | 8 | Access, share and download |
4 | Store | |
Meta (Facebook and Whatsapp, mainly) | 9 | Conversations with victims |
Telegram | 2 | Conversations with victims |
eDonkey | 2 | Access, share and download |
Microsoft Skype | 2 | Share |
Mega | 1 | Access, share and download |
With a significant maintenance of conviction, the high rates of appeals judged ratifying the conviction are the majority, representing 30 maintenances and only 5 partial or total acquittals in relation to the practice attributed to the defendants, demonstrating the rigor of the TJSP in dealing with these cases.
Recommendations for parents, companies and providers
As recommendations for families, it is once again necessary to remember the importance of, in addition to maintaining frank and direct contact with children about the risks that exist on the internet, also evaluating the applications actually used by children and adolescents, confirming the existence of unknown connections and followers , narrow the time of use and intensity of internet browsing and social networks in general, balancing digital activity with the privacy and safety of children and adolescents.
For companies that provide technological solutions for this audience, it is essential to keep their contact channels and policies updated, observe rigor in establishing layers of digital security and governance in their operations so that, when incorrect use of their solutions is identified, they naturally have the countermeasure suitable for immediate interruption of activities and identification of malicious agents.
The State is also responsible for promoting awareness campaigns among parents, companies and the general public, given the worrying increase in crimes of this type, reinforcing the need for more investment in quality education, including digital, to then enforce the constitutional command provided for in art. 227 of the Constitution.
Finally, to those who insist on practicing abject conduct such as those described above, it is important to make it clear that technological advances and investigation techniques, as well as the increased awareness of agents involved in the repression of this criminal modality, prevent agents with bad intentions from remain in the shadows and be brought into the light where they must receive a pedagogical, firm and appropriate legal reprimand.
1 A combination of the words “share” and “pareting”, the practice has been identified as excessive exposure of children, which can cause future harm to children, including compromising privacy and even identity theft.
2 Available at https://canaltech.com.br/seguranca/video-perturbador-mostra-os-riscos-de-postar-fotos-de-criancas-em-redes-sociais-257328/ Accessed on 25/09/2023