Malaysia has most uploaders and downloaders of child porn in S-E Asia
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the highest number of IP addresses uploading and downloading photos and visuals of child pornography in South-east Asia, the authorities have said.
The number of children falling prey to perpetrators whom they had befriended online is also reportedly increasing fast.
Many Malaysian parents let their children use mobile phones without monitoring, and more than 60 per cent of children spend time in online chatrooms on a daily basis.
Data shows that close to 20,000 IP addresses in Malaysia upload and download photos and visuals of child pornography.
Assistant Commissioner Ong Chin Lan said data showed that prior to 2014, an average of 60 children a year were sexually assaulted by perpetrators whom they had befriended through the Internet. The figure increased to 184 in 2015 and was 183 in 2016. Last year, as of May, the figure was 117.
About 51 per cent of children aged between 13 and 15 befriended the perpetrators through WeChat. Other channels included Facebook, WhatsApp and Beetalk.
An investigation of children between 10 and 17 in 2015 showed that 91.6 per cent owned a mobile phone before the age of 15, while 88.5 per cent had Facebook or other social media accounts.
It also found that only 35.6 per cent of parents monitor their children's activities.
Another figure that revealed a worrying trend was that 60 per cent of girls and 40 per cent of boys would go on to meet the people they befriended online. - SIN CHEW DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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