06/09/2025
Online Children: Safe or Potential Victims?
D. Sakeli: The absence of proper guidance from parents, teachers, and competent authorities significantly increases the risk of children becoming victims.
In Athens, at the American College, the European Society of Criminology held its annual conference from September 3–6. The conference gathered experts from across Europe with the goal of analyzing and addressing contemporary issues in criminology, with particular focus on children and their digital safety. One of the main topics discussed was children’s exposure to the internet and social media. Dimitra Sakeli clearly emphasized that the absence of proper guidance from parents, educators, and relevant authorities significantly heightens the risk of children’s victimization. The risks highlighted included online harassment, deception, bullying, and exposure to inappropriate or dangerous content.
Experts stressed that prevention is key. Collaboration between parents, educators, and competent bodies is essential in shaping a safe digital environment for children. At the same time, strengthening digital literacy, training children in safe navigation, and using appropriate control tools can act as a protective shield. The conference underlined that children’s online safety is not an individual responsibility but a collective challenge for society as a whole, requiring active participation and awareness from all stakeholders.
Additionally, at the recent conference of the European Society of Criminology, Professor Brewer from the University of Adelaide presented an innovative research proposal on the use of conversational agents (chatbots) in preventing child sexual abuse. Special emphasis was placed on their potential in deterring the collection and distribution of child sexual abuse material, a phenomenon particularly resistant to conventional control and prevention methods.
According to the research proposal, chatbots could function as tools for:
Early risk detection, identifying problematic behavior at an early stage.
First-line prevention and intervention, through psychological guidance and discouragement of seeking illegal material.
Information and education, by providing evidence-based knowledge on legality, social and criminal consequences, as well as available support structures.
The contribution of this approach lies in its interdisciplinary synthesis of criminology, psychology, and artificial intelligence. The goal is to develop new methodological prevention tools capable of limiting both the demand for and circulation of child sexual abuse material.
Professor Brewer’s presentation highlighted that, despite significant research and ethical challenges, the integration of such digital tools into criminological prevention represents a promising direction for enhancing child protection.
Meanwhile, a protest took place at the American College Deree, which hosted the Criminology Conference. Protesters opposed the participation of Israeli academics in the international Eurocrim 2025 conference.
Strong police forces, consisting of at least two riot police units and ODOS officers, arrived at the scene. At the same time, Agiou Ioannou and Gravia streets were closed.
