Teaching kids about the risks of sexting

THE UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) has teamed up with Facebook to launch a virtual experience that unites fiction and reality to help young South Africans understand the risks of sexting.

With studies showing sexting among young people in South Africa and around the world at an all-time high, Unicef joined forces with Facebook and technology company Sherpas to develop a virtual experience to help young people understand the risks of sharing intimate pictures on the internet.

Through an artificial intelligence platform, called Mask-A-Raid, South Africans from the age of 16 can interact through a Messenger bot on Facebook with the fictional character Thembi Keshi, a very active teenager on social networks.

Thembi is recovering from the end of a relationship when she discovers that her ex-boyfriend has leaked an intimate video of the two. The narrative is constructed using texts, photos, videos and audio messages, and for at least 48 hours the teen becomes Thembi’s best friend, exchanging experiences, advice and learning how to deal with situations of non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

Mask-A-Raid was launched in South Africa last week, on World Children’s Day. The project is part of Unicef’s global campaign to #ENDviolence in and around schools, including online bullying.

Rayana Rasool, communication for development specialist at Unicef South Africa, says: “The ultimate goal is to reduce young people’s exposure to online risks, such as revenge-porn, cyberbullying and grooming, and to provide resources for young people who may have encountered such a situation themselves or among their friends.”

She explains the chatbot emulates human behaviour by contacting the user throughout the day, without previous user interaction, and even several days after the first interaction.

“During this discussion, Thembi explains a difficult situation she is in because of compromising images of her on the internet.”

Online revenge pornography and other forms of sexual exploitation have become more frequent in South Africa, she says.