Episode 1: The Global Cryptocurrency Race and Crimes Against Children
(Original air date 09/05/19)
Episode Description
We are living at a historical time in history. Nearly every day a new cryptocurrency is being introduced, but the technologies are different than Bitcoin.
Facebook is set to introduce Libra to their more than one billion followers. If approved by Congress, the Libra cryptocurrency will be backed by an asset base made up of many global corporations. The stated purpose is to bring banking to the hundreds of millions of people around the globe who are now getting access to social media but have no means of banking. The challenge is that Facebook is known for their business model of collecting and selling your every post, click, search and location.
Recently, it was announced that the Tik Tok app, owned by Byte Dance, a Chinese Corporation, surpassed Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in the number of users. The Peoples Republic of China announced that they too are creating their own global currency with an asset base.
We will be following these trends to see if this ends up in a global cryptocurrency race, controlled and marketed through global social media apps, who are building massive artificial intelligence databases of social media communications, locations and buying behavior.
What is fascinating is that both of these app developers are offering our kids mass-audience live-streaming where, instead of communication with a few hundred close friends, they can now have 100,000 or 500,000 and sometimes a million followers. Once these apps are connected to immediate access global cryptocurrency, life as we know it will never be the same. And, many of our kids will be exploited through what they perceive to be “easy money.”
Join us as we explore how the world of crime, crimes against children, and crime solving will change based on these potentially world changing technologies.
Episode 2: What Happens When Your Child’s First Sexual Experience is a Virtual Sexual Experience?
(Special Rebroadcast 09/12/19 | Original air date 12/27/18)
Episode Description
We are entering a time of the greatest societal experiment ever. Soon the entire world will be connected by the internet and yet every day parents give phones and tablets to very young kids, who access apps, live-streaming and video game chat rooms BEFORE they have even had the “SEX” talk with them. And now, most of our kids’ first sexual experience will be with someone over the internet (someone they have never met in person) or will be based on animation or virtual pornography. It will most likely be sex without love and outside the context of relationship and commitment. It is also complicated by new technologies where virtual photos and videos are forever.
This week we will look at the impact virtual sex has on children and how it will change their sexual identity FOREVER.
Episode 11: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Apps, Chat Rooms, Live Streaming and Slang
(Special Rebroadcast 11/14/19 | Original air date 07/12/18)
Episode Description
Keeping track of which apps are dangerous for kids has become somewhat of a full-time job for parents. Once you figure out how one app works, another one is introduced. Who knows what impact each new app could have on your family?
This week we will talk about the latest apps and chat rooms that kids are gravitating towards including live streaming technology. We will also talk about some of the slang they use to hide their conversations from adults.
We will also talk about how to keep your kids safe in a world of artificial intelligence where your every click, search and location are being sold as a profile about you is being developed.
We will cover:
• Artificial Intelligence
• APPS: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Kik, GroupMe, WhatsApp, Musical.ly, Tumblr, Grindr
• VIDEO CHAT ROOMS: Omega, HouseParty, Live.ly, Live.Me, You.Now
• SELF-DESTRUCTING/SECRET APPS: Snapchat, Whisper
• CHATTING, MEETING, AND DATING APPS AND SITES: Monkey, MeetMe, Yubo
• Slang used by teens
Join us as we help adults to understand some of the apps, chat rooms, live streaming technology and slang that teens use today and where predators roam about seeking vulnerable kids to exploit.
Episode 10: Future Technologies and What It Means in Keeping Kids Safe From Predators | The Intersection of Volume-Speed-Encryption-Access
(Original air date 11/07/19)
Episode Description
The past few weeks’ events will make your head spin. Global Law Enforcement and Intelligence organizations discovered the largest child pornography ring in history with over ONE MILLION users that subscribed to a Dark Net site and received frequent user points for paying their subscription with Bitcoin.
The U.S. Congressional Intelligence Committee is investigating Tik Tok, owned by the Chinese Company ByteDance, for possible international security violations for using artificial intelligence to record and share user data.
The People’s Republic of China introduced their cryptocurrency that will be 300,000 times faster than Libra being introduced by Facebook, which is being investigated by the U.S. Congressional Finance Committee.
Mass audience live streaming apps like Tik Tok and Likee are expanding rapidly with many teenagers having more than 100,000 followers (some already have ONE MILLION FOLLOWERS), and where predators can easily reach our kids from any where and privately text with them.
It is INDEED a fast changing world.
Episode 5: Animated Pornography: How It Impacts Teens in Video Gaming
(Special Rebroadcast 10/03/19 | Original air date 01/17/19)
Episode Description
Recently, PornHub (the largest porn site in the world) released their 2018 data, and the findings are very concerning. Many of the popular searches in PornHub were video game characters created in a pornographic setting. For example, of the 33 BILLION porn video downloads, Fortnite and Bowsette (a Nintendo character) led the searches. Equally disturbing is the new trend of creating animated pornography parodies of these video games, which are being downloaded by the tens of millions.
Five of the searches were related to FORTNITE characters and 9 of the top searches were related to Overwatch characters. Many more were related to Marvel characters. Nearly 80% of these downloads were through smart phones. The other significant revelation is that in categories viewed the longest, the leader is “Amateur” videos, something teens can create on their own just by using live-streaming apps.
In this episode we will discuss the implications of this report for our teens who play video games which contain explicit animated pornography. We will talk about the force multiplier when all members (including a 13-year-old boy) are looking at pornographic scenes where the players have sex with the characters and share it with adult strangers in a chat room. We will discuss the concept that many players are hormonal and developing their sexual identity making them easy targets for recruitment and exploitation. In much of video gaming pornography, the sex is one way, sometimes it is a weapon and there is virtually no relationship with the object of their sexual engagement. Although video game pornography may seem harmless, it can become addictive, and gives teenagers a sense of sex without commitment or consequences, and, unrealistically, sex where they control all factors in their fantasy world. Unfortunately, most parents are unaware that video game pornography shared with strangers in a public chat room is a dangerous virtual incubator for grooming and exploitation.
Episode 9: Global CryptoCurrency, Encryption and Mass Audience Live Streaming | What does it mean for keeping kids safe from predators?
(Original air date 10/31/19)
Episode Description
The past few weeks have brought together a glimpse of the future if we are willing to pay attention. Lost in all the chaos of Washington politics and Middle East violence is a trend that will affect each and every one of us for the rest of our lives, especially our young people.
This week the U.S. House Finance Committee, led by Maxine Waters, grilled Mark Zuckerberg about how Facebook et al will use encryption and their new Libra which is a global cryptocurrency tied to social media. It is currently looking like Facebook might back off the introduction of Libra on the same day that China’s Parliament has passed a law enabling cryptography to pave the way for the People’s Republic of China’s new bank backed global digital currency. Facebook’s Libra currency is based on block chain technology and designed to handle 1000 transactions per second. China’s cryptocurrency is centrally managed by China’s Central Bank and is designed to handle 300,000 transactions a second.
As Million Kids has reported recently all of this is happening while our kids are entering a whole new era of communications which we call “Mass Audience Live-Streaming.” Apps like Tik Tok, Likee, Live.me and soon Lasso make it possible for our youth to make a 15 second video that goes out to millions and any one of those individuals viewing the video can send a text to the maker of the video. It has truly become a world without borders for our kids.
In the near future our kids will be able to talk with millions of strangers and the messaging will be encrypted. Soon global cryptocurrency will be tied to every app out there and that means that our kids will be able to make selfies and sell them to make a little spare change. It is INDEED A FAST-CHANGING WORLD and we need to sit up and pay attention!
Episode 7: Societal Shift Trends: The Evolution of Teen Technology and Exploitation
(Special Rebroadcast 10/17/19 | Original air date 03/14/19)
Episode Description
This week we are going to look at how communication, relationships, and sexual exhibition has changed based on new technologies. For one-to-one conversations, it started with email then moved to texting. Facebook followed and we began to choose who would be our “friends” and “unfriended” the undesirables. Today, most teens would die of embarrassment using either email or Facebook. In fact, less than 5% of Facebook users are teenagers.
Soon technology evolved into instant messaging apps such as Kik, WeChat, and WhatsApp. As these became the norm, apps like Line, Viber, and Skype offered free calling with video and group chat. Immediate interactions were accelerated on a global scale with Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, all of which became enormously successful and popular with teens.
All of these technologies changed how teens communicate. They formed online local communities with group chats. Even today many teens are using Tango, which has a four-mile geo-based function to talk with strangers near their home. It is a favorite of gangs in some communities. Whisper was an app that kids used to tell their secrets believing it is safer to tell strangers than to tell their own friends (go figure).
Chat Roulette and Omegle, where kids can meet total strangers while sitting in their bedrooms unsupervised, brought mass audience individual live-streaming and video chat rooms. And, mobile device face-time technology literally tore down the walls of our homes while teens conducted the most intimate of acts at any time to be shared with any one.
Finally, we encountered encrypted messaging, disappearing video, ghost apps, vaporware and the dark net. And, even more recently, we have mass-audience live-streaming apps such as Live.Me and Tik Tok where kids perform in front of potentially millions of strangers.
Each of these apps has given pedophiles and predators access to groom, recruit and exploit our kids. THE WORLD HAS DRAMATICALLY SHIFTED IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS. All a pedophile has to do is sign up for the app and wait.
Episode 4: Emerging Trends in Child Abuse Materials (aka Child Pornography)
(Original air date 09/26/19)
Episode Description
For more than eight years, Million Kids has been tracking global child pornography rings. Every day, the Million Kids’ Facebook page features arrests and prosecutions of pedophiles across the U.S. and abroad to help our followers understand how the war against child exploitation is being waged by Federal, State, and County law enforcement.
Years ago, pedophiles would hide in the shadows and take photos of their acts when violating a child. Sometimes they would share these photos with one or two other pedophiles they trusted.
Today, we are seeing large-scale child pornography rings. Some have been discovered with over 200,000 pedophile members who upload photos and videos via peer-to-peer networks or virtual private networks to build massive pedophile communities in the Dark Net. Law enforcement agencies have discovered databases that exceed 30 million images of exploited children.
As criminal activities become more complex, law enforcement experts are developing technologies that are identifying and prosecuting child pornographers by the thousands. These advancing technologies are critical for discovering how pedophiles and organized sex crime rings use mass-audience live streaming, artificial intelligence, encryption, cryptocurrency, block chain and the Dark Net to communicate and help them decode and transcend illicit activities to bring these evildoers to justice.
Episode 3: Global Social Technology and the Psychological Impact on a Child
(Special Rebroadcast 09/19/19 | Original air date 03/21/19)
Episode Description
Every day new technologies are being handed to our kids that will catapult them from the safety and sanctity of their own homes to becoming performers on the world stage. Much of this technology is encrypted or vaporware (disappearing video) which means the child is isolated from parental supervision resulting in the child being solely responsible for their decisions and behaviors. Advancing technologies mean that a pedophile no longer has to worm their way through the Instagram system and seduce your child, but, rather, on Tik Tok, your child freely performs before potentially millions of strangers, who can communicate with your child and know their profile information and geo location.
Few of us understand the over-ranging impact of this Societal Shift. Global Social Technology will change our kids and how they perceive relationships. Gone are the days when you friended and unfriended. With mass audience live-streaming, our kids develop goals of having tens of thousands of followers where very few of them are “personal” friends. The challenge is that our kids are still using real-life relationship criteria to evaluate the integrity of the people they are communicating with. Teaching our children to transition between the cyber-fantasy world and real-life decision consequences may be one of the greatest challenges for this generation.
Season 14: Exploited - Crimes Against Humanity
Episode 6: Prosecuting Crimes Against Children
(Original air date 10/10/19)
Episode Description
This week we invited Pam Stratigakis as our guest. Pam spent most of her professional life prosecuting people for crimes against children. Formerly a Special Prosecutor of Sex Crimes for just over 16 years, Pam has worked with ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) conducting bench and jury trials, motions and hearings related to internet crimes against children. Pam believes strongly in giving back to the community she serves and uses her extensive courtroom experience to educate and train others on internet safety as well as violence prevention and awareness.
Pam is currently pursuing an elected position as a Cook County Circuit Judge (Illinois). Join us as we get an opportunity to hear about the inner workings of prosecuting crimes against children.
Episode 13: The Search for Truth in the Digital Age and Why It Matters
(Special Rebroadcast 11/28/19 | Original air date 11/21/19)
Episode Description
This generation has more information provided to them in any 24-hour period than any generation in history. Today's teenager will be connected to hundreds of thousands, even millions of total strangers through mass audience live streaming and the young person WANTS THEIR APPROVAL. Many kids today are evaluating their success, even self worth on the number of followers they have.
Young people see the internet as a social tool where they can build relationships and be "discovered.” How do we teach them to evaluate the source of their online relationship(s)? It seems they don't even know what questions to ask.
The Challenge: How do we teach young people to determine what is real?This is the first generation in a world without borders and many of the people they meet will lie to them. Some will only distort the truth. Some will tell an untruth. Some will tell them truth does not really matter. Some will say it is OK to lie as long as it feels good.
Research studies have indicated that 85% of college graduates cannot distinguish the difference between a blog (a personal opinion), an ad (an enticement) and a news release (purportedly a fact). The 24-hour news cycle gives us an endless parade of talking heads each laying out their "personal opinion" as if it is fact. Soon there will be technology that can insert and remove images into live streaming altering our perception of what really took place.
It is critical to teach our young people how to evaluate information. Who is the speaker and what are their credentials in the subject matter? Is there research to back up a "fact?” How do you discern between a fact and an opinion especially as they are connected in the same sentence? What is the motive of the speaker? Without a solid understanding of how the internet works, the cognitive reasoning skills to recognize a pedophile, and the ability to recognize truth and deception, our children will be vulnerable to exploitation.
Episode 8: Who Are The Most Likely Victims And Why?
[Sex Trafficking and Social Media Exploitation]
(Special Rebroadcast 10/24/19 | Original air date 02/14/19)
Episode Description
Thousands of kids each year are victimized through sextortion, social media exploitation, sex trafficking and child pornography. And, technologies such as encrypted messaging, instant messaging apps (like Facebook messenger and KIK), disappearing video (like SnapChat and Instagram), live streaming (like Tik Tok, Omegle and live.me), dating sites (like My LOL, Crush Zone, MeetMe, and Grindr), online gaming chat rooms (like GTA, Fortnight, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft), and ghost apps (like Calculator and Burn Notes) provide a technology-freeway for predators to access, groom, recruit and exploit our children.
So who are the most vulnerable victims?
- Foster, homeless and runaway kids
- Pregnant teens
- Sexually active teens
- Kids from broken homes; single parent households; kids being raised by grandparents
- Kids with low self esteem
- Kids who associate with gangs
- Deaf kids
- High-functioning autistic kids
- LGBT kids
- Affluent kids
- Pre-pubescent children who are allowed online (including online games)
- ANY KID who uses the internet and/or has a cell phone
- ANY KID who believes that exploitation will never happen to them!
Join us as we talk about who are the most likely victims of sex trafficking and social media exploitation and why they are so vulnerable. EVERY PARENT NEEDS TO LISTEN TO THIS SHOW!
Episode 12: The Search for Truth in the Digital Age and Why It Matters
(Original air date 11/21/19)
Episode Description
This generation has more information provided to them in any 24-hour period than any generation in history. Today's teenager will be connected to hundreds of thousands, even millions of total strangers through mass audience live streaming and the young person WANTS THEIR APPROVAL. Many kids today are evaluating their success, even self worth on the number of followers they have.
Young people see the internet as a social tool where they can build relationships and be "discovered.” How do we teach them to evaluate the source of their online relationship(s)? It seems they don't even know what questions to ask.
The Challenge: How do we teach young people to determine what is real?This is the first generation in a world without borders and many of the people they meet will lie to them. Some will only distort the truth. Some will tell an untruth. Some will tell them truth does not really matter. Some will say it is OK to lie as long as it feels good.
Research studies have indicated that 85% of college graduates cannot distinguish the difference between a blog (a personal opinion), an ad (an enticement) and a news release (purportedly a fact). The 24-hour news cycle gives us an endless parade of talking heads each laying out their "personal opinion" as if it is fact. Soon there will be technology that can insert and remove images into live streaming altering our perception of what really took place.
It is critical to teach our young people how to evaluate information. Who is the speaker and what are their credentials in the subject matter? Is there research to back up a "fact?” How do you discern between a fact and an opinion especially as they are connected in the same sentence? What is the motive of the speaker? Without a solid understanding of how the internet works, the cognitive reasoning skills to recognize a pedophile, and the ability to recognize truth and deception, our children will be vulnerable to exploitation.