VIDEO. “Here, I'll give you a photo of my daughter”: this shocking campaign against online pedocriminality warns parents

Since October 8, 2024, the Caméléon association has been broadcasting shocking videos to raise awareness about pedocriminality. It urges parents to be vigilant about photos of their children.

“Sexual predators say thank you”, Alas. When parents post photos of their children on social media, there is a good chance that they will fall into the hands of pedophiles. This is the whole purpose of the campaign of the association Caméléon : to raise awareness about the dissemination of images that can be diverted, reports France Info.

Hidden camera

"Hello, here, I'll give you a photo of my daughter, her name is Lia!" In a video filmed without the knowledge of the people arrested, a woman goes to meet passers-by to show them photos of her daughter.

Conversing with them, she gives them many details about the child: “She's six… We live down the street, not far away […] This is her first day of school. This is at the gym. This is our last holiday in the Canaries", with photos to prove it.

700 reports per day

The head of the Office for Minors Gabriel Hazan explained last year on RTL that the Ofmin received "700 reports of child sex crimes every day". Created in November 2023, this organization brings together 80 police officers and gendarmes. Since its launch, it has received 150,000 reports.

Very real risks

“Without knowing it, this is what you are doing by exposing your children on the networks”,poses the association. The goal is there: to show that information shared online exposes minors to bad encounters as much as giving details of their lives to strangers in the street.

And “the predators say thank you”, concludes the video, which highlights the behavior of some parents, too quick to share images of their offspring. Chameleon alert: “40% of people who viewed child sex abuse content, videos, photos of child assaults or rapes, subsequently tried to contact a child.”

Even with good intentions: “We notice that there are completely harmless photos, such as a child's first steps, a victory in a sports club, the start of the school year… There is a risk in any photo because a photo is not only the child's face but also his habits, his passions, his hobbies, where he goes to school", explains Églantine Cami, youth advocacy officer, to our colleagues.

The practice has a name: "Sharenting." From the contraction of the English of "Partager" and of "Parenting", it is about the dissemination of photos of children by their own legal guardians.