I might be completely misinterpreting what you meant but what worries me in your response is that it appears that you are implying that only kids peers are a problem and that the chances of a "stranger" using a photo are remote and/or that with everything that's already out there there wouldn't need to be a reason to take a photo of a particular child. I might be incorrect, but your post seems to kinda imply that there isn't a reason to be careful since someone that really wants to do harm would always be able to.
I think school and maybe neighborhood peers are the main danger. They know the kid personally, have access via direct, community and online communication methods to the kid and the peer group, and potential motive to mock and humiliate the kid amongst the peer group.
A stranger could in theory snag a photo of your kid's face and head off the Internet, but then what? If they use it to make A.I. generated fake child porn, I imagine that's illegal and will probably never surface in a way that impacts your kid's life. Unless your kid is exceptionally beautiful, why would they use your kid? While disturbing and disgusting, is this a concern that ought to drive our behavior?
Some years back society became aware of 'up skirting,' where a small camera on one's shoe could grab photos from below looking up a girl's dress, and these photos were often posted online. Creepy and disturbing, but most of the concern seems to've passed and women still wear dresses.
I'm not arguing don't be careful, but rather how careful most mainstream people will find needful and worthwhile. To use an analogy, a determined burglar can get in one's home, but most of us lock our doors when we leave home. A fraction have home security systems. Everyone must decide what risk management strategy they deem good enough.
At first glance I wasn't going to respond as I do not want to get into discussions that get out of control or go very off topic but I think the subject is very important.
Agreed. I, too, have seen the 'point of view warrior' mindset triggered looking at controversial topics, leading to shout downs and determination to have the last word, vilify the opposition, etc... These issues should be discussed from different perspectives.
Your last line makes it look like this is only an issue in the USA (or countries that have yearbooks).
I don't see it as only a U.S. issue, but I'm not familiar enough with other cultures across the many nations to speak to that. My point about the year books was that school peers (who seem a more likely group from which cyberbullies targeting your kid may emerge) can get your kid's photo from a year book, and maybe a few photos. Keeping your kid's photos off Facebook may reduce exposure but not eliminate it.
I think the amount of children and families that are being blackmailed with nude photos indicates that there is a real problem especially given that kids that are being blackmailed might choose suicide as a way out instead of going to the police/parents etc.
I agree there's a real problem. The questions that then follow involve how prevalent, how severe, and what the upside is. For example, I've little doubt that in America, most of which has a car-dependent culture, in a given week many children are mangled in car wrecks. A journalist could compile graphically disturbing, heart rending accounts into a well-written piece and publish it online. That piece might remind us of the importance of seat belts, car seats, recommend age/height/weight parameters for riding in front vs. back seats, the risk of front seat air bags harming small people in front seats, and to be cautious on the roads.
But most people wouldn't avoid taking their kids on car trips whenever possible. There's a measure of risk we knowingly take on every time we take our families on a road trip, if only to Walmart or the grocery store.
Getting back to the example you mentioned, let's say we hear a story of some teen blackmailed with A.I.-created perversely sexualized and grossly inappropriate images. I would think police and, if school peers were behind it administration, would be helpful with that, but whether they are or not, that's traumatic, granted. At the same time, there might be a hundred thousand unreported cases of grandparents enjoying seeing their grandkids in another state posted on Facebook, mothers and fathers proudly displaying pics of Junior and Sissy for their social network to admire, and no harm (besides hogging server space).
So while I agree it's a real problem, and not everyone will react the same way, I suspect mainstream America won't do much differently, and that's not an unreasonable position for them to take.
This is part of a greater societal issue; how much protection kids ought to have. Is playing in the neighborhood unsupervised because the pedophiles might get you too dangerous? Baby sitters sometimes molest kids - do you rig your home with surveillance equipment so you can spy on them while you're out? And now...do you prohibit Facebook posts of your kid's photo out of fear school mates will concoct fake porn with A.I. and blackmail your kid who suffers and maybe commits suicide?
On a related note, discussions on such topics often occur in isolation. Given the stat.s on %'s of kids who are sexually abused at some point in childhood, and the sizable portion of those cases attributed to non-strangers (e.g.: father, grandfather, Mom's boyfriend, older brother/step-brother, family friend, baby sitter), I would think the danger of someone you know molesting your kid well outweighs the odds your kid will be traumatized by A.I.-porn blackmail perhaps leading to suicide. So, if the latter alarms someone so much they steadfastly avoid allowing posting of their kid's photo online, how much do they worry about what sounds like the greater dangers?
Not everyone will draw the same conclusion nor is one answer right for every family. The question of how much vigilance is enough is a thorny one for caring parents who don't want their kids victimized or living in a bubble.
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