Cambridgeshire, UK -- A new study from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reveals that porn sites are stealing photos and videos of kids from their social media and other online accounts.
Analysts discovered that 88 percent of sexually explicit or suggestive photos and videos of young people are hijacked by "parasite websites." Those sites are created with the sole intention exploiting media on pornographic websites, according to researchers.
IWF launched the study to see how much sexually suggestive content created by underage people exists online and where it goes after it's originally posted. Data was collected in 47-hours, spread out over four weeks in September. During that time analysts found 12,224 photos and videos across 68 different websites.
"This research gives an unsettling indication of the number of images and videos on the internet featuring young people performing sexually explicit acts or posing," said Susie Hargreaves, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, in the report. "It also highlights the problem of control of these images - once an image has been copied onto a parasite website, it will no longer suffice to simply remove the image from the online account."
Hargreaves emphasized the importance of educating young people that you may never be able to remove an image or video once you you've posted it online.
Internet Watch Foundation