Canberra, September 6 (IANS): Australian authorities have issued a warning following an increase in the number of children being forced to create sexual and violent content online.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) warned parents and guardians on Friday about an emerging online trend in Australia of young people being forced to create explicit content, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The AFP agency reports that sadistic sextortion is an increasingly common form of online crime. Online communities target children as young as 12 and pressure them to produce an image or video of explicit sexual activity or violence themselves in order to gain acceptance by the community.

Once an image or video is generated and sent to the offender, the recipient will then forward the content to other members of the community who will then pressure the victim into paying a fine by threatening to share the explicit material with their friends and family if they do not prepare more graphic content.

According to AFP, in some cases the perpetrators are the same age as the victims.

Helen Schneider, head of the AFP’s child exploitation unit, said intelligence received by the Australian Centre for Combating Child Exploitation (ACCCE) showed that most offenders in extreme online groups were motivated by status or notoriety within the group, rather than money.

“These criminals are not motivated by financial gain. Instead, they are motivated by exploiting vulnerable victims to produce repulsive content for their own deranged entertainment,” she said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, some victims in these groups do not see themselves as victims. They do not believe they are being forced to perform these incredibly horrible acts and therefore are unlikely to report it to the authorities.”

The AFP issued the warning to mark National Child Protection Week (NCPW), which aims to educate Australians about the complexities of child abuse and neglect.

Schneider said parents and guardians should be aware of the warning signs that a young person is being groomed – such as increased screen time and isolation – and be prepared to talk to a child they believe is engaging in harmful online activity.