SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT’S CELLPHONE SLEAZE AND

THE CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR

A discussion paper on the implications of the convergence of

technology and behaviour
on child protection initiatives

“.....criminal activities and mafia-like organisations around the world have

also become global and informational, providing the means for stimulation
of mental hyperactivity and forbidden desire, along with any form of illicit
trade demanded by our societies from sophisticated weaponry to human
flesh.....a new communication system, increasingly speaking a universal,
digital language is both integrating globally the production and
distribution of words, sounds and images of our culture, and customising
them to the tastes of identities and moods of individuals. Interactive
computer networks are growing exponentially, creating new forms and
channels of communication, shaping life and being shaped by life at the
same time.”
Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwell Publishers
(1996)

____________________________________________________

“My Mom would wake me up and the first thing I do is go on my

phone on MXit to see if anyone left me an offline message. Then I get
dressed and while I’m dressing, I leave my phone on the bed. I’d go to
school and in between breaks and classes I’d go on my phone and go on
MXit. I’d get home at two o’clock and eat lunch. While I’m watching TV, I’d
go on MXit and chat until supper time. Supper time is about 15 minutes
long and that is basically the longest I’d been off (MXit) the whole
day.....”1

Special Assignment’s Cellphone Sleaze, broadcast on SABC 3 in

September 2008, confirms an emerging trend2 that has a direct impact on
measures to protect children from Internet child predators: the
convergence of technology and behaviour. As the Child Exploitation and
Online Protection Centre CEOP) reported in its Strategic Overview 2007-
2008:

“The traditional types of online environments are now merging as

social networking, online gaming, instant messaging and photo-sharing
technologies are becoming component parts of large ‘social sites’. Even
where the boundaries can still be identified, children are using these
environments with little or no distinction between them and the
1
Youth interviewed on Special Assignment’s Cellphone Sleaze, SABC 3, September 2008
2
See Strategic Overview 2007-2008, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, UK;
Online “Predators” and Their Victims: Myths, Realities, and Implications for Prevention
and Treatment, Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell and Ybarra, American Psychologist (2008) and
the Film and Publication Board’s research on Internet usage in South African schools
line between online and offline is becoming increasingly blurred.
Whereas last year we stated that the terms ‘real’ and ‘virtual’
worlds should no longer be used, this year we should accept the
complete integration of online activities into the lives of
children.” (Emphasis added)

The obsession of thousands of South African youth with MXit, as the

Special Assignment programme showed, is evidence of this convergence
of technology and behaviour. Young girls, especially, are not only
revealing very personal information about themselves and their friends
but are also distributing sexually suggestive pictures of themselves to
strangers they meet in chatrooms – and setting themselves up for
disaster. If the young girl interviewed in Cellphone Sleaze is typical,
South African children are spending more time on social networking sites,
like MXit, than on any other activity.

For the past few years, law enforcement agencies and child
protection practitioners have been drawing attention to the increasing
risks to children posed by convergence of technology. As a consequence,
the mobile cellular phone is now the medium of choice for the distribution
of sexually explicit materials, as well as for easy access to the Internet.
(One only has to watch late-night etv to appreciate the abuse of cell
phones for the distribution of pornography. Despite drawing the attention
of etv to the fact that they are advertising, and therefore promoting, the
illegal distribution of pornography, etv continues to advertise these
“services”.) However, a more worrying trend this year, reported by
CEOP, and confirmed by research findings in the United States 3, as well as
research findings by the FPB4, and as was confirmed by the youth
interviewed for the recent Special Assignment programme, is that of the
convergence of technology and behaviour.

And this convergence of technology and behaviour is not just about

children. The new electronic environment now makes it easier to apply
offline grooming techniques online – offenders are able to build a range of
contacts and express shared interests and opinions with children who are
increasingly used to having the world as their audience in online forums.
Cell phone technology has transformed the phone from a simple voice
communication tool to a wider, more integrated facility for the distribution
of information. The cell phone is now a sophisticated instrument
facilitating an interaction of the three major sectors of
telecommunications, media and information technology. Any cell phone
user can now surf the Internet, send and receive images and text
messages – and talk – all at the same time. “It has progressed in its
design and value from an initial talking device to an instrument whereby
its applications fulfill industry, cultural, emotional and informative
objectives. The future will see the device performing more operations and
comprising more technologies and information so as to intensify its

3
Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell, Ybarra (2008)
4
Internet usage in South African schools
intrinsic links to how people function in their daily lives and
business......The mobile phone is a first-rate example of proving the
impact that convergence has had on society. This is because it can
change the users behaviour and lifestyle pattern. This case study
correlates with Geser who believes that the new mobile phone empowers
people to engage in various communications and activities, while at the
same time being free from the constraints of physical proximity and
spatial immobility.”

The integration of location based services (or GPS) into mobile

cellular phone services has significantly increased the risk of offline
contact – constant online access via cell phones and the ability to locate a
child via this media is now a real risk to children from sexual offenders.

What are the implications of this trend of the convergence of

technology and behaviour? Wolak et al suggest the following:

(1) While it is necessary to focus on the dangers that

unsupervised access to the Internet, and especially social
networking sites, poses to young children from paedophiles and
child abusers who lurk in chat rooms, prowling social networking
sites to find innocent victims, the danger that children expose
themselves to by their own, deliberate conduct must also be
emphasised. Children need to understand that, by volunteering personal
details to strangers in chat rooms and by distributing their pictures via cell
phones, they are not only committing a serious offence if such pictures
come within the definition of pornography and child pornography but that,
and more importantly, they are exposing themselves to the risk of
becoming victims of offline sexual abuse.

(2) There is no doubt that there is an increase in images of sexual

conduct in the media in South Africa. Most children do not realise that
intergenerational sex involving underage adolescents is a criminal
offence. The conclusion of Wolak et al (footnote 3) is important: “It is
valuable for the public to hear messages that reinforce norms
and counteract media that present sexualised images of youths.
These can include media stories that highlight the prosecution of
statutory sex crimes, publicity about age-of-consent laws and statements
from authorities and opinion leaders about the rationale behind these
prohibitions. Important points to touch upon include the inequality of
power and experience between youths and adults, the immaturity of
teens and their lack of readiness for intimate relationships with adults,
and the potential negative impact on victims in terms of healthy sexual
development and other consequences.”

(3) It is necessary to focus prevention efforts not only on

parents and teachers but also on adolescents themselves.
“....simply urging parents and guardians to control, watch, or educate
their children may not be effective in many situations....adolescents who
tend to be victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes may not themselves be
very receptive to the advice and supervision of parents....Moreover, some
of the most vulnerable youths may be alienated from their parents,
victims of familial abuse.....” Peers are also an important target group of
prevention efforts. “For example, peers who know about the romantic
involvement of their friends may heed messages to take preventive
measures when they see friends drawn into dubious online
relationships....”

(4) Prevention measures aimed at the youth should focus not

just on the risks posed by Internet predators but on concerns
relevant to adolescents – their developmental interests and the
fact that normal adolescent sexual feelings, urges and curiosity
are important factors in their lives. “Youths need candid, direct
discussions about seduction and how some adults deliberately evoke and
then exploit the compelling feelings that sexual arousal can
induce.....information should include reassurances that it is normal to
have strong sexual feelings but wrong for adults to provoke or exploit
these feelings....”

(5) Prevention information about Internet-initiated sex crimes

should be part of a broader programme that teaches youths
about healthy sexual development, including how to recognise
and avoid sexual victimization. It is important to develop such
programmes in conjunction with youths themselves to close the gap that
is usually present between how adults and the youth view and understand
the online environment.

(6) Prevention messages should focus on online interactions

because Internet-initiated sex crimes come about through direct
communication between offenders and victims. Young people
should be educated about the specific types of Internet interactions that
are most associated with victimization, such as revealing personal details
and talking about sex to strangers on the Internet.

(7) Giving age-appropriate information about the potential

criminal nature of sexual solicitations is important. Grooming is an
offence in terms of our law. This information should also be extended to
parents, guardians and teachers so they understand the unsuspected and
risky uses web and digital cameras may be put to and the potential
magnitude of this problem.

(8) Prevention information must include an assessment of risky

online behaviour. The following patterns are examples of risky online
behaviour:

• posting personal information online

• interacting online with strangers
• putting strangers on a “buddy list”
• indulging in rude behaviour towards others on the Internet
• downloading images from file-sharing programmes
• exchanging photographs with strangers
• visiting X-rated websites, and
• talking about sex online with strangers.

Iyavar
September 2008