TEXAS, USA — Parents are being warned about an app that's becoming increasingly popular and has growing levels of child abuse being shared on the platform, according to those who work to curb human trafficking.
Joseph Scaramucci, director of law enforcement engagement for Skull Games Inc., talked with 6 News about what parents should look out for to protect kids from the online world. He has growing concerns about the app "Telegram Messenger", commonly known as Telegram.
"The biggest thing is the encryption," Scaramucci explained. "That even for parents adds a layer of difficulty to it. It is used for positive things. It's used for communication, but it's also used, as with most apps, for nefarious things."
As a nonprofit, Skull Games Inc. has been working to counter sex trafficking for more than a decade. Scaramucci shares that they have noticed a trend where more of the illegal activity is happening through applications, rather than through text messaging or in person. As he talked about apps, Scaramucci explained encryption is a great thing, but it's also a double-edged sword when it comes to protecting children. Any app where communication disappears is one he doesn't recommend children have.
"My concern for parents would be you just never know who your kid's talking to," Scaramucci added. "That's a worldwide platform. I can talk to anybody in the world on it. We can with most social medias, but [Telegram] is one that is designed to be private and anytime it's designed to be private, it opens the door for a lot of concerns of exploitation of children."
The app has been under scrutiny recently as Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested in Paris over the weekend over allegations that his platform is being used for illicit activity such as drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.
Another alarming element for Scaramucci is the app hasn't reported any child sexual abuse material, which they are required by law to do, if there is any on the platform.
"The service providers are required by law to report child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and when I looked yesterday, there had been none that had been filed by Telegram," Scaramucci said. "That's not possible because that kind of material is on there. If a company is protecting people that are engaging in that, we have a huge problem."
So what should parents do about this controversial communication application? Scaramucci shared a couple tips.
"Make sure that you're monitoring what your kids are doing, what apps are on their phone and who they're communicating with," Scaramucci said.
Scaramucci said children having apps like Telegram and Kik is unnecessary. He said parents should also look to turn disappearing message features off too, like on Snapchat. Children should also for no reason have dating apps, Scaramucci added.
The former McLennan County Sheriff's Office detective also added that it's imperative for parents to be present in their kid's life, like having dinner, having conversations and getting to the bottom about what could be creating a disruption in behavior.
"The other most important thing is remembering that these people are targeting kids that they see as easy targets," Scaramucci explained. "Kind of filling those vulnerabilities and keeping your kid fulfilled, happy and not in need of attention, especially from the wrong place is such a huge step."
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