The development of new technologies has multiplied the forms of violence against children. Sexual predators are also active online, consulting pedocriminal content and stalking and contacting minors. They don’t hesitate to use manipulative techniques to gradually gain children’s trust and then sexually assault them.

Risks on internet and social media

Sexual predators use the Internet, social networks and networked games to interfere in the daily lives of children and teenagers. Although online, these acts have real consequences for the children who fall victim to them.

1. Manipulation techniques used by online predators

The anonymity guaranteed on certain platforms and social networks enables predators to pretend to be children in order to gain their victims’ trust. This is known as “grooming”, an insidious manipulation technique used by predators to retrieve intimate content or entice minors to meet them offline.

However, even when interactions are limited to the virtual, the risks remain numerous. Some pedocriminals take photos and videos posted by parents on the Internet and use them for sexual purposes, or blackmail teenagers in exchange for money or sexual solicitation.

2. Searching for, viewing and distributing child-abuse content

Paedo-criminal content, featuring sexually exploited children, is increasingly easy to access, including on conventional search engines and social networks. Behind what appear to be mere images, real children are being abused, reliving their abuse every time it’s shared online.

Predators can also use such content to normalize child abuse and desensitize the young.

The development of new technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence, also facilitates the creation of content. Many predators create “deepfakes”, for example, by pasting a child’s face on a naked body or in sexually explicit positions.

What does the law say in France?

Cyber-crime encompasses all sexual offences and crimes committed against children on the Internet.

Viewing paedophile content

The act of distributing, consulting or recording content featuring a minor or the representation of a minor in a sexually explicit manner is punishable by law (art. 227-23 of the French Penal Code). Penalties are increased to 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, and are higher when committed by an organized gang.

Exposure to pornographic content

The display of pornographic or child-pornographic content by an adult is punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros (art. 227-24 of the French Penal Code).

Grooming

The act of an adult making sexual proposals to a minor under the age of 15, or to a person posing as a tell, using a means of electronic communication, is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros (art. 227-22-1 of the French Penal Code). When sexual proposals are followed by a meeting, these penalties are increased to 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros.

Sextortion

The act of an adult inciting a minor, by electronic means of communication, to commit any act of a sexual nature, either on himself or herself, or on or with a third party, even if this incitement is not followed by action, is punishable by 7 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros (art. 227-22-2 of the French Penal Code). When the acts are committed on a minor under the age of 15, the penalties are increased to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.

Deepfakes 

Bringing to the attention of the public or a third party visual or audio content of a sexual nature generated by algorithmic processing and reproducing the image or words of a person is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros (art. 226-8-1 of the French Penal Code).

Livestreaming

The act of an adult ordering, in exchange for money, the live sexual assault or rape of a minor in a foreign country on a live video call-in platform via the Internet is punishable by 7 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros for sexual assault, and 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros for rape.