KUALA LUMPUR: Parents have been told to monitor their children's activities on social media to protect them from paedophiles.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said sexual predators constantly look for ways to get close to a child, including grooming them and offering gifts to gain their trust.
"The Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations Division (D11), has detected teenagers trying to sell provocative images of themselves via social media," Razarudin told Utusan Malaysia.
He said that parents must remain vigilant about their children's online activities and check their social media content or virtual "friends."
Earlier this week, the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) launched a blitz against those suspected of possessing and distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
The operation, codenamed "Op Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC", involved a series of coordinated raids across six states; Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Penang and Perak.
The raids, which saw the authorities descend on homes in affluent neighbourhoods, as well as middle and low-cost areas, led to the arrest of 13 suspects.
It also resulted in the seizure of 40,000 CSAM and pornographic content from various devices, including computers, cell phones and external hard disks.
Last week the New Straits Times ran a series of reports on the rampant sale of Malaysian-made explicit content, including CSAM, on social media and messaging platforms.
The NST's investigation also showed how CSAM content was being sold for as cheap as RM1 per video, raising concerns among parents over the safety of their children.
Bukit Aman's D11 Principal Assistant Director, Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan had spoken on trends which showed that access to such pornography had made predators even more brazen, with some going to the extent of attempting to abduct children.
She also highlighted how easy access to pornographic content has led to severe addiction resulting in children, some as young as primary school pupils, becoming involved in creating and profiting from CSAM content.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had told the NST how cybercriminals trafficking in CSAM were exploiting advanced encryption technology to avoid arrest.
Malaysia, it said, has forged alliances with the FBI and other international entities to leverage real-time coordination of operations to shut down priority and high-impact targets.