What is online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA)?
OCSEA refers to the usage of the internet or communication technologies to facilitate the sexual abuse of children and adolescents. Examples of child sexual exploitation and abuse can exist in many forms - grooming, sexual extortion, sexting, live-streaming, perceived first-person (often called "self-generated"), and child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Although there is no single legal definition for online CSAM, this term - which is still legally known as child pornography in the U.S. - generally refers to sexually explicit imagery involving a child.
It is a misconception that in order for an OCSEA incident to occur on a website or app, children must be users of the app. This is not true. For example, many OCSEA harms occur between adults - trading CSAM amongst themselves, hosting chat forms that sexualize children, using CSAM for profile photos, grooming of other adults with the goal of exploiting their children. In addition, children can commonly evade age assurance tools and tactics and obtain access to online spaces meant only for adults.
Examples of OCSEA Harm Types
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
CSAM includes still images, videos, and illustrated, computer-generated or other forms of realistic depictions, as well as live streaming broadcasts of a child in a sexually explicit context, or engaging in sexually explicit acts.
Online Grooming
Grooming broadly describes the tactics abusers use to build trust and rapport with a child in order to gain access to that child for the purpose of sexual activity or exploitation. This type of victimization takes place across every platform; social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc., and may include instances when a child is being groomed to take sexually explicit images and/or ultimately meet face-to-face with someone for sexual purposes, or to engage in a sexual conversation online or, in some instances, to sell/trade the child’s sexual images.
Minor Sexualization
Is the creation or sharing of content (including photos, videos, real-world art, digital content, and verbal depictions) that sexualizes real or non-real children.
Sextortion
Is a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing with the public a nude or sexual images of them, by a person who demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money from the child. Livestreaming: Livestreaming allows abusers to create child sexual abuse content in real-time. Livestreaming of child sexual abuse may include adult offenders who direct the child abuse whilst the acts are streamed live to an audience, or coerce children into using livestreaming platforms to produce child sexual abuse material.
Trafficking
Child sex trafficking is a form of child abuse that occurs when a child under 18 is advertised, solicited or exploited through a commercial sex act. A commercial sex act is any sex act where something of value – such as money, food, drugs or a place to stay – is given to or received by any person for sexual activity.
Establish operations in order to identify and respond to an OCSEA incident
Take Action when an OCSEA incident occurs
How to Raise Awareness
Learn more
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Disclaimer – All companies are different: We understand all companies are different and may take different approaches. These recommendations are intended to help facilitate internal, cross functional conversations and do not intend to define a standard of care – you may wish to add or subtract from them as needed.
This was not developed to provide legal guidance or regulatory compliance: We did not overlay
or compare this information with current or drafted legislation.
For the purpose of this content, child or minor refers to someone who is under 18 years of age.