#BeinCtrl #SayNo - Safer Internet Day 2019 – Tuesday 5th February 2019

The Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) and “Webwise” have launched a video

For more info on #SayNo #beinctrl

The video was created to compliment the Be in Ctrl teaching resource and depicts the stories of two teenagers subjected to online sexual coercion and extortion. The purpose of this video is to inform young people that this behaviour is a crime, raise awareness of how to protect themselves online, where to find help and support and to give them Ctrl!

The Online Child Exploitation Unit (ONCE) at the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) offers the following advice:

• Protect your online life - use the maximum privacy settings.
• Be aware that people online may not be who they claim to be.
• Keep control online - do not share explicit or intimate images with anyone.

If you believe you are a victim of this type of crime, you should do the following:

1. Don’t share more, don’t pay anything.
2. Look for help. You are not alone.
3. Preserve evidence. Don’t delete anything.
4. Stop the communication. Block the person.
5. Report it to An Garda Siochana.

This activity is a crime. Adults as well as children can be victims.

To contact An Garda Síochána:

• Call in person to, or telephone your local Garda Station;
• In the event of an emergency dial 999/112 or
• Contact the Garda Child Sexual Abuse Helpline 1800 555 222.

Online Child Exploitation FAQs are available here

It is best that you turn off the computer media (e.g., Smartphone, tablet or laptop) on which the problem communication took place and have it available for examination by the Garda Síochána.

Crimes of this nature that are reported to the Garda Síochána, will be fully investigated

Parents and children should be aware of the dangers involved and the Garda Síochána advise that explicit images should never be posted or shared online. Any child who receives a request for naked or explicit photographs should not share any images. We ask them to tell their parents and immediately make contact with the Garda Síochána who will advise them regarding how the matter should be handled.