Many parents feel a lot of anxiety when it comes to keeping their children safe online. Most parents explain the importance of not talking to strangers online and monitor their children’s internet use closely.
However, what parents might not realize is that they are the ones sharing photos of their children with pedophiles online through popular hashtags.
It’s become the norm for parents to share photos of their kids online.
Most of these pictures are taken even before kids are born, thanks to the rise in popularity of social media pregnancy announcements and gender reveals.
Once the baby is born, the updates don’t stop.
There are birth announcements, monthly milestone photos, and cute pictures to post all the time.
The rise of parents using social media has even been given its own name.
The phenomenon is known as “sharenting” (sharing and parenting) according to Child Rescue Coalition, an organization that aims to protect children from sexual exploitation.
Since most children have an online presence before the age of two, Child Rescue Coalition is reminding parents to be safe when sharing photos of their children.
Specifically, the coalition has released a list of viral hashtags used by pedophiles to find photos of children.
Hashtags are used to organize blog posts, photos, and tweets. Any media from a public account that’s tagged with these keywords can be found in a search.
While many of the hashtags identified by the Child Rescue Coalition have innocent purposes, they said pedophiles can manipulate the images they find in their searches.
Some of the hashtags to avoid include: #BathTime, #ToddlerSwimsuit, and #NapTime.
Many of these hashtags are used by parents and children’s product companies daily.
Many of the hashtags commonly searched by pedophiles are associated with daily activities like eating and taking a bath.
#SplishSplash and #PottyTraining were two other hashtags identified by the coalition.
To keep your child safe online, there are a number of things you can do.
You can make your social media accounts private to ensure no strangers can search your photos, or avoid using hashtags altogether.
Alternatively, you can keep photos of your family off of social media and share pictures with family and friends through a private digital gallery.
