Addressing Internet Sextortion and Youth Gangs in Scandinavia

The Danish and Swedish justice ministers promise to prosecute organised crime leaders abroad. Gangs are using underage Swedes to commit crimes in Denmark, such as contract killings, which have occurred at least 25 times since April. This is partly because Swedish law provides for milder sentences for underage people who commit serious crimes. In addition, one of the two main gangs in Sweden is run by a Swedish-Turkish citizen who lives in Turkey, which refuses to extradite its citizens.

British minors are increasingly encountering the problem of sextortion, when the criminal uses trickery (e.g. impersonation) to obtain intimate/erotic photos of the victim, which they then use to blackmail them to extort money (e.g. in exchange for not making the photos public, etc.). Childline, a child and youth helpline, says it is a daily occurrence to encounter victims of financial and sexual blackmail, with the frequency of such contacts having increased “hugely” over the past 12 months. In that time, Childline has encountered more than 100 cases of financial, and sexual blackmail.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which helps detect and remove child abuse content online, is calling on WhatsApp owner Meta to protect minors better online. Experts say there is nothing to stop the spread of child abuse images on WhatsApp.