According to a damning report, child porn originating from the Philippines is being sold on the social media platform, Twitter.
As many users are suspended for breaching terms of services for a variety of reasons, some of which have piqued the interest of pro-freedom of speech groups as those with unpopular political opinions are often targeted, there appears to be a spike on open pedophiles using the platform.
The westernized pedophiles have rebranded themselves under the acronym “MAP” which stands for “minor attracted person,” a thinly veiled euphemism.
Now, according to Rappler, images containing minors in sexual scenarios, posted from the Philippines, has increased tremendously via the creation of a not-so-black-market.
Rappler recounts:
A boy stares into the camera. The phone’s yellow flash illuminates his face, highlighting features that suggest he is barely in his teens.
He is in a pitch dark room, sitting on what looks like a plastic bench. The camera points downward, revealing the boy naked from his waist down. At the 20-second mark, a hand moves into the frame and starts touching the boy’s private parts.
The video cuts abruptly. The sneak peek is up. To watch the entire video, you’d need to pay P300 [$6 USD], says the tweet.
Sexually abusive content depicting minors is being sold for anywhere between $2-$10 USD. Some footage fetches up to $20 USD.
The images are being traded on the major social media platform under seemingly innocuous code words such as “kiddie meals,” with a double-entendre for fast food combos, or “bagets,” meaning a “younger person.”
Much of the footage reportedly shows the minors in explicitly sexual settings.
Some accounts even sell “experiences” with minors on Twitter. One account, that temporarily shut down for coronavirus social distancing, amassed nearly 1,500 followers.
Rappler reported that accessing the depraved and illegal content simply required a direct message to the purveyor of this explicit product.
Despite the illegality of distributing the content, several accounts in the Philippines continue to pawn this sickening material on social media where they can reach an international audience.
