Family and Friends Forum

My son used file sharing apps, but clearly there is a level of sophistication required to access the dark web. The people on there are aware that they can be tracked on the normal internet and want to avoid that.

Mine was the kik app....used for chat and to exchange images. Apparently it can be used and downloaded by anyone age 14+ and originally was for people to share their hobbies but it very quickly became known for less mainstream and darker things. At first the images were legal (cosplay) but this is not a nice app to be on from the impression I have from the police and the forum, and has more harmful content and users and many innocent sounding groups and chats can take you down a very dark rabbit hole very easily.

My person didn't but some of the people they chatted to would use instagram and WhatsApp. Not sure if that was for the legal stuff they started on or the latter.

We have a child so our internet has always had restrictions on anyway and probably wouldn't have allowed google searches for that on any of our devices.....not sure if that might affect your research.

It could be that those caught using internet and chat/social media are less computer savvy or not as aware of what they are doing. Or just because it's so prevalent and easy to do! On purpose or in error or stupidity.

It would be interesting to see the different platforms used via the peoples ages/computer knowledge; and possibly ADHD/learning difficulties as this seems to be common among those investigated/caught.

It could be the dark web is more sophisticated and the people on there know what they're doing, it's more likely intentional so don't get caught.

I have no idea as I've been told nothing about this side of the offence. My mind used tomwonder if it is actually as easy as folk say. But now I couldn't care less.

My husband's offences took place over the Kik app, too.

I don't want to downplay what he did, but I believe him when he says that he didn't specifically joined these groups with the purpose of looking at indecent images.

He told me he was on groups, where all sorts of videos were posted, memes, car videos, normal pornography....and also indecent images.

It's a crime nonetheless, he should have left the groups and the app immediately once he came across the first indecent image.

My person joined a dating website. Then after messaging on that it switched over to WhatsApp x

My OH downloaded a load of (what he thought) was legal porn from a website called Torrance (I think) and within that there was prohibited images. He is very computer savvy and has a VPN. He always says that if he thought he was doing anything dodgy, he knows how to cover his tracks.

Hi

My son case was

Was though a app called wink,associated with Snapchat,then lead to what's app

Attempted sexcuall communication with decoys viglantes

Social media / chat apps. Kik, snap chat, telegram

When I first quizzed my person on how he got his iiocs I asked of was all dark web. This was before I did more research on the matter and thought all offenders used the dark web as well as social media. But he had no idea how to access the dark web and found much easier methods...

Evidence suggest he started off with Google searchs like 'pre teens' and then he went into not that well known chat forum sites. He used to cat fish, pretend to be a teen to talk to older men...

I believe there is a report somewhere called something like 'three clicks' which suggests unfortunately it can be just thee links needed to get to what an offender is looking for. And that is a sad and worrying reality.

It is a misconception that many use the dark web.

My ex used the dark web but mainly Instagram. He had 200 followers who were all sharing images between them. It took Instagram ages to shut the account down and as soon as they did, he simply opened another one. He never used any social media up to this point. This was 7 years ago. I reckon it's prolific on that platform and other social media.

Kik normal porn never searched for illoc

My partner was communication on kik. He never went on the dark web. From what I can gather through my four years of research and being on the forum most people who are arrested don't have the IT skills required to enter the dark web. The arrests seem to be coming from mainstream internet sites rather than police accessing the dark web and being able to identify users.

My sons offence was communication via Snapchat only.

Film torrent apparently had iioc inside the folder downloaded

Ocean

Your son case,his very simlar to my son case,regarding app,expect my son case they lead him to message o n what's app

Poppop, I've sent you a pm.

Suspected 1 image on a public Snapchat profile