eSafeKids

Both as a Police Officer and as a parent out and about, I’ve had lost children approach me looking for help. When a child is lost, scared or unsafe, sometimes the safest thing they can do is approach someone they don’t know, a stranger. Child safety education should empower children with practical skills for the real world, not leave them fearful of it. My Tricky Eye Spy is a great book to support this education and conversation.

“You see most strangers are friendly, most strangers are nice, they meet you and greet you, give helpful advice. But very few strangers, to meet one is rare, could make us unsafe so we must be aware. These people are tricksters we’ll tell them apart not by their looks but by using our smarts ...”

Link: www.esafekids.com.au/shop

❗️UPDATE: META TO USE NEW AI VISUAL ANALYSIS TOOLS TO SCAN USERS PHOTOS & VIDEOS

Meta has announced it will start to use visual analysis such as height and bone structure to identify if an account likely belongs to someone underage.

Meta will use this new visual analysis in conjunction with existing contextual tools (eg. birthday celebrations) and account characteristics (eg. posts and comments).

If an account is found to be underage, to prevent it from being deleted the account holder will need to provide proof of age via existing age verification.

Meta has assured users this is not facial recognition and does not identify the specific person in the image or video.

Meta is also making it easier to report underage accounts and is strengthening measures to prevent users circumventing age requirements and creating new underage accounts.

Meta says this change is about keeping kids safe;

🤔 Do you trust Meta?

🤔 Is this crossing the line?

Language matters …

Child sexual abuse material is photos and videos of children’sprivate body parts and children being sexually abused. Every image and video captures the real abuse and harm of a child.

‘Child pornography’ is an inaccurate and outdated term. It sanitises the reality of the harm being done and fails to reflect the seriousness of the crime.

The children in the photos and videos deserve for us to accurately label what they are experiencing - child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Is Roblox really trying to keep younger children safe?

In my opinion, this change does not recognise the importance of age-appropriate environments, developmental differences or the need to reduce unnecessary risk for children.

Children and teenagers are at very different developmental stages.

What may feel socially acceptable, emotionally manageable or age-appropriate for a 15 year old can be confusing, overwhelming or unsafe for a younger child.

The issue isn’t that all teenagers are unsafe. It’s that younger children need digital environments with stronger safeguards, slower social dynamics and lower exposure to risks such as inappropriate conversations, grooming, bullying, sexualised content and harmful behavioural influences.

Anyone else think Roblox needs to try again?

Research consistently shows parents and caregivers play a critical role in prevention, detection and response to child sexual abuse, both in-person and online. When adults are equipped with knowledge, skills and confidence they are better able to create and maintain safe environments for children. It’s a pleasure to work with so many caring adults ❤️

📚 NEW BOOK

⭐️ From the Author/Illustrator team that brought you Australia’s best selling body safety picture book Only For Me, Ten Little Aussies gently promotes cultural awareness and introduces young children to cultural diversity and inclusion.

Counting down from ten to one, this beautifully crafted story depicts children from a variety of cultural backgrounds, enjoying classic Aussie childhood experiences, united in friendship.

👆Link in bio

In 2023 the Australian eSafety Commissioner requested some of the world largest technology companies to report what they were doing about child sexual abuse material appearing on their platforms.

X failed to comply but has finally admitted wrong doing and Australia’s Federal Court has ordered X pay a fine of $650,000 + costs.

Another example of how little ‘Big Tech’ cares about children and one of the most abhorrent forms of online harm.

A Digital Duty of Care would see the responsibility for managing online harms shift to ‘Big Tech’ companies, this is long overdue but we’re getting closer everyday!

Do these statistics shock you?

This is Australian men, in Australian homes and work places meeting Filipino facilitators online who arrange for children to be sexually abused live on camera.

As a former Child Abuse Detective I had the unpleasant task of investigating Australian men who also travelled overseas to sexually abuse children, many of whom also filmed this abuse. Some of those videos are still seared into my brain.

Not my children, not your children, but children nonetheless. Children harmed by Australian men.

I continue to speak on these issues not because it is easy, but because it is necessary.

Australia ranked #1 in the 2026 Out of the Shadows Index for its action to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation. However, the global benchmark also notes that current efforts remain incomplete, and no country is doing enough to protect children. There is still much work to be done!

I know talking about child abuse can be confronting, but as Nelson Mandela said, ‘One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.’

This is happening now, and it’s happening on our watch. I know that Australia’s child abuse statistics can feel very overwhelming. Remember, children have no choice about the circumstances of their birth or childhood.

You can’t do everything, so focus on the difference you can make in the life of one child.

You don’t need to do this alone, you’ll find many resources on the eSafeKids website to support you, including content to read, watch, listen to and download.

Link 👆 www.esafekids.com.au/community

⭐️ If you’re tired of seeing suggested content on Instagram and want to see more from the people you follow turn on this setting ...

☑️ Settings
☑️ Content Preferences
☑️ Turn on ‘Snooze Suggested Posts’

This will last 30 days, then you’ll need to do it again.

A UK school has experienced a blackmail attempt after criminals used the schools website or social media accounts to take photos of school children and then using AI tools turned them into child sexual abuse material. The blackmailers sent the images to the school and threatened to publish them online if they did not receive money.

❓Should schools audit public social media accounts?

❓Should schools consider closed-loop online school communities?

❓If the general consensus is social media is not appropriate for children what message do children receive when services, schools, clubs and organisations share their photos and other personal information.These questions require rethinking long standing practices, but they do deserve consideration.

❓Has your child’s early education and care service, school, club and/or child serving organisation made changes to its social media and website policy?