The gang's victims are under 16. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine / L'Orient-Le Jour)
After arresting six of the alleged members of a pedophile gang operating in Lebanon using TikTok, the Lebanese police on Monday published a guide to prevent the risks associated with minors' exposure to social networks, calling on parents, in particular, to make their children aware of the dangers of cybercrime.
“This guide aims to make members of society aware of the risks, threats and cybercrimes they may face, and how to ensure the necessary protection against these risks and guarantee respect for privacy,” explained the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in the document, which is freely available on their website.
This publication comes against the backdrop of the wave of indignation aroused in Lebanon by this case, whose victims who have testified so far are “no older than 16.” The modus operandi employed by this gang consisted in “recruiting teenagers outside Lebanon to attract children via TikTok,” said a security source quoted by AFP.
After luring the minors, those involved “raped them, drugged them, filmed the rape and then ... threatened to publish the footage if they told anyone about what they had been subjected to,” the source added. Six people have since been arrested “in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the North, including three minors famous on the TikTok app, of Lebanese, Syrian and Turkish nationality,” the police said in a statement.
'Initiating a dialogue with children'
Under the slogan “Our children are a red line,” the guide in question develops dozens of preventive measures and recommends a series of good reflexes to employ. The ISF calls on parents to “take the lead in making their children aware of the risks they run on the Internet.”
The document mentions the introduction of a “time limit per day spent on social networks,” “parental control” or simply “initiating a dialogue with your children to make them aware of the dangers to which they may be exposed online.” In addition to child protection, there are also procedures to ensure the security of personal data, prevent hacking and avoid becoming a victim of cyber-extortion.
Police said the investigation was continuing to arrest the other members of the gang, estimated at 28 individuals. As part of the search, an appeal for witnesses was issued on Monday morning to find one of the other alleged members of the gang.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.