Young 22+ Women in Adult Chat

Young 22+ Women in Adult Chat

For many posters, the experience of sexual contact with children on live chat platforms was not the result of a deliberate intent to cause harm but rather of an inadvertent lapse in judgement or the product of 'online disinhibition' (Suler 2004). Online security processes, such as age verification, allow adults to confirm their age by clicking a mouse button and then use the website without fear of prosecution. This creates an environment where motivated criminals can actively search out and abuse children without risk of detection.

The research presented here was conducted using open-source data from forums on Reddit and Avvo in which individuals were seeking legal advice regarding sexual behaviours involving minors that took place on live chat sites such as Omegle and Chatroulette. These forums present a potential limitation as the users of these sites self-select to seek legal advice and as a result may not represent a wide range of people who engage in this type of behaviour.

Despite these limitations, the findings of this research highlight several important areas for concern. The results show that these chat sites are unregulated and create a dangerous environment for children. It allows for offenders to engage with minors in sexual conversations and even stream extreme child sexual abuse remotely. The platforms are a place where online deregulation and disinhibition allow users to neutralise themselves and become complicit in inappropriate online behaviour. Reforms to the way these chat platforms are designed could mitigate some of these risks and ensure that children remain protected.