8-29-24 Police Offer Internet Safety Tips for Keiki and Teens

Hawai‘i Police Department
Area II Juvenile Aid Section
Detective Chandler Nacino
Phone: (808) 326-4646, Ext. 301

Media Release

Hawai’i Police Department is offering internet safety tips for keiki and teens because all kids deserve to be safe online. Kids and teens today face an array of online risks from cyberbullying to sextortion and online enticement.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), between 2021 and 2023 the number of online enticements reports increased by 323%, with the NCMEC Cyber Tipline receiving 186,819 reports of online enticement, including sextortion, in 2023 alone. A June 2024 report on trends in financial sextortion by the national non-profit group Thorn and NCMEC, found that Instagram and Snapchat are the most common social media platforms used for sextortion, however, end-to-end encypted messaging apps were being used to move victims to other platforms.

Here on island, Hawai‘i Police Department is seeing an increase in reported cases of online enticement. “While our records system does not track specific types of enticement, anecdotally, we’re seeing an increase across the board of reported cases involving kids as young as 12,” said Detective Chandler Nacino of the Area II Juvenile Aid Section.

A lot of times kids are too embarrassed to admit they are a victim of sextortion. Or they are pressured into taking pictures of themselves that they know are inappropriate but are too scared to say anything. Online predators often using fake profiles and accounts, masquerading as an attractive looking child the same age as the victim. After creating a connection with a victim, they escalate quickly, using a variety of tactics to pressure the child to send inappropriate photos or videos of themselves. 

To keep our island keiki and teens safe from online predators, police recommend the following tips:

• Talk to your kids. Regular conversations about internet safety can go a long way in increasing trust and open communication.
  
• Establish smart security, such as fingerprint scans, facial recognition and password locks. A GPS-enabled smartphone is great when using maps, but it can reveal a child’s location through online posts and uploaded photos and should be disabled when a child posts anything online.

• Set boundaries with your kids regarding phone usage, including screen-time limits. Create “blackout” periods and consider restricting what sites they can visit and where they can use their phone. 
  
• Use parental control apps to see what sites and apps your child is accessing on their smartphone, tablet, or computer.
  
• Review apps before they’re downloaded, making sure to understand their capabilities and approve their content.
  
• Remind your children that once images and or video are sent to someone it is very hard to control where they might end up. What is posted online stays online and can be very difficult to remove.

Start talking about these topics with your children early so you can be more comfortable talking about uncomfortable topics, this will help develop critical thinking in your child that will help them recognize these online risks.

The State of Hawai‘i Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has an information-packed website with interactive games that teach keiki web safety, as well as tools for teens to stay safe online, and lesson plans and classroom activities for teachers. Go to https://ag.hawaii.gov/hicac/ to learn more about these resources.

If you believe someone you know is a victim of exploitation, call 9-1-1. You can also report it on the NCMEC national cyber tipline: https://report.cybertip.org/.