JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Four suspected administrators of a Facebook group containing pornographic photos and videos were shown by the Jakarta Police cyber team to the media on Tuesday (14/3). The Official Loli Candy’s Group pedophile ring, which has over 7,000 transnational members, was cracked by the Jakarta Police. There are other rings still being investigated.
The suspects arrested were W, 27, DF, 17, DS, 24 and SH, 16. The four, who claim not to know one another, created a Facebook group in September 2016, which by March 2017 already has over 7,000 members.
“The group members have to upload pornographic photos or videos that have not been uploaded before, upon the approval of the admin. The members are not allowed to be passive, they have to send photos or videos,” said Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Tuesday.
Apart from being found to be an admin of the Facebook group, suspect W is also alleged to have sexually assaulted two children aged 8 and 12 in Malang, East Java, while DF allegedly sexually assaulted six children aged 3-8 in Bogor and East Jakarta.
“The suspects’ actions are photographed and recorded on video and then uploaded on to the Facebook group,” Iriawan said.
The Jakarta Police cybercrime sub directorate head Adj. Sr. Comr. Roberto Pasaribu explained that the four suspects claim that they do not know each other offline. The arrests were carried out on March 7-9 at different places. Suspect W was arrested in Malang, DF in Bogor, SH in Tangerang and DS in Tasikmalaya.
The group admins earn USD 15 from every group visitor. The income is used as operational funds.
The police are still investigating the case as according to the testimony of the suspects, there are other similar groups around. The Jakarta Police is working together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to disclose the data of the Facebook group which has already been suspended.
Children’s rights activist Seto Mulyadi said that the case is concerning and surprising because it involves perpetrators who are still young. The perpetrators have apparently become familiar with sexual activities from a very young age.
“We are heedless and forget that there are children who need guidance. This case can happen in any section of society, both in the lower and higher classes, who feel stressed or whose hobbies are not channeled,” Seto said.
Information technology expert John Muhammad said that handling cases like these are not as easy as blocking sites. However many pedophilic sites are blocked, new sites will just appear. “The main way to overcome it is to have parents and children use the internet smartly,” he said.
Naïve internet use
Generally, social media platforms have a minimal age requirement for anyone wanting to create an account. However, sometimes children under the age of 13 are able to create a social media account by falsifying their age.
“In fact, there are even parents who set up a social media account for their children. Their reason for this is so that their children can expand their social network, when this is in fact the thing that leads to online danger for children,” John said.
Furthermore, there has not been any education on the etiquette of good internet use. Parents are not aware that their children upload photos and videos of themselves on to social media. Some uploads can be categorized as sensitive. There are even parents that proudly show off photos of their children.
“The Indonesian public are somewhat naïve in using social media. They too easily accept friend requests, including from people they don’t know,” he said.
Child predators would usually stalk children’s social media accounts. Then they would create fake accounts and set them to have the same hobbies or interests as that of the targeted child. Without realizing it, those children would comply with the requests of the predators asking them to upload sensitive photos.
“Parents must communicate with their children and monitor their interaction on social media. Do not let children decide to tell intimate problems, like puberty, interest in another person or emotional uncertainty to someone on social media,” John said.
In terms of regulation, Indonesia has a number of laws such as the Child Protection Law, the Electronic Information and Transaction Law and the criminal code. However, the government also needs to carry out an online intelligence movement to ensure that negative content is not consumed by children.
“People who find sites or pages with negative content should report them to the social media provider,” John said.
The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry’s deputy for child protection, Pribudiarta Nur Sitepu said that he was concerned about the pornography cases that involve children, whether as victims or perpetrators.
The ministry has urged the police to investigate the case according to the law. The implementation of the Child Protection Law is important because there are economic elements, in the form of the perpetrators making money and extending his activities to reach people overseas. “The victims’ physical and psychological condition must be treated and fully rehabilitated,” he said.
(WAD/DNE/SON)
