Online Safety PSA

Hello s! Hello hello.

This probably should have been made a long time ago to give our tips on properly reporting predatory s and enjoy your time safely in a semi-public community with a large mix of adult and minor s.

Since schools don't typically teach online safety anymore, we'll try to lay out some of ye olde teachings and resources us early zoomers and millenials were taught, or had to learn the hard way. Unfortunately there are also not many guides made for non-parents, so hopefully this fills that spot.

Contents

Preface

What is Grooming?

For Victims

For Friends

Prevention

For Adults

Sources/Links

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Preface

Now, not all people who are friendly or flattering will be looking for something illicit. However, a combination of these actions may be a red flag of things to come, so we seek to educate all s on what to look out for. Some may be of use regardless of if you are a minor or adult to protect yourself! Please read through.

We hope not to breed animosity between our vast age groups, but an awareness of online vulnerability to our younger folks, or s with developmental and social disabilities, and how to report these offenses on our platform.

This discusses things strictly peer-to-peer, and will not apply to public sexual content/posts. Please refer to our [guidelines] for further details on what you can/can't post.

(General rule of thumb, use a PG-13 movie with sexual content as a guide for vulgarity.)

In the event you come across a suspicious person and cannot be sure of their motive, please screenshot and send to a mod for us to add to a database in the event that someone else experiences the same thing.

If this behavior escalates, we will take swift action. Predatory or abusive behavior is not tolerated whatsoever of in this community.

Public harassment of any suspicious for any reason is strictly prohibited for reasons [further discussed] in this blog, and s who complicate/interfere on any investigation, or mistreat/goad staff throughout or for any decision we make beyond an initial warning may be punished further.

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What is Grooming?

"Grooming" is a behavior predatory individuals (adult or minor) will use in order to gain trust and shape an individual (also adult or minor) into a mold they see fit. According to Miriam Webster, in this instance, "form a relationship with (a child or young person) with the intention of sexually assaulting them" ...Or further take advantage of them.

Typically this is done with an adult to child dynamic, but may also apply to work or schooling power dynamics as well, or with an abled and mentally disabled/otherwise vulnerable individual.

On this platform, we typically will classify behavior as grooming or an inappropriate relationship in teens as the knowing/intentional sexual exploitation of a under 18 with an age gap of 3 or more years of average mental development. (ie, 13 and 16, 16 and 19, 17 and 20 at each lowest possible age during the time frame).

We will handle each case individually and take disabilities/reoffense likelihood into , as not everyone's mental development is equal. However, we advise not engaging in any relationships outside 2 years of an age gap at most as a teen, or refrain from online dating in general.

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For Victims

First of all! If something happens, do not feel ashamed. Unfortunately this happens to many on the internet, and prowlers are in every corner of the web. On Sonic Amino, we do our best to ban all predators before they offend further, but unfortunately some will slip through or find their way into your trust. We will not judge you for falling for anyone's tricks.

Online abuse can come in many forms. Verbal, sexual, bullying, etc. While this formally focuses on grooming, some of these may assist with harassment as well.

We will keep all victims entirely anonymous to prevent harassment in any way possible.

Try not to confront before reporting.

Just like making things public, confrontation may lead to deletion of evidence, which you will need further down the line.

If you confront, please make sure you screenshot evidence before, and do not breach our guidelines on death threats, etc.

Collecting evidence.

We need as much as we can get as s to the legitimacy of reports so we can swiftly boot them from the community before anyone else falls victim. This may also help for reporting to authorities.

This helps in the event that they try to retaliate and refute claims, as well as if a criminal case is pursued.

Block!! Do not leave the chat. It may be a kneejerk reaction, but if you leave the chat, all evidence may be erased and you will not be able to retrieve it.

If you have no evidence, try to bait an ission by mentioning a previous action and see their reaction. Other further interaction than this is HEAVILY ill advised.

In the event you don't have sufficient evidence, we will keep a log to watch them for further action.

Keep it private.

Sonic Amino mods need to keep track of things without heightened complication and outside factors to make sure we swiftly handle the situation from our end.

If someone is put on the spot, they may either create their own defense group with their own narrative, or mass-delete evidence/rebrand to avoid being caught fully, thus evading potential criminal charge pursuit.

This also causes unneeded stress on the community and creates a space of unease before any evidence is properly brought to light.

Source external s if possible.

Sites like Cybertip may be able to help investigate further into a predator and take lawful action against them via their discord, instagram, etc. after they are banned by us. You may remain anonymous if you wish in each report.

Unfortunately if you are over the age of 18 and a victim of stalking, it will not be of use, and you may need to file a report with your local non-emergency police dispatch.

Talk to a trusted adult.

If you have parents you can confide in, ask them for help. School counselors may also be able to help you work through what to do next. They likely will be able to help you in the event that you cannot confide in your parents.

Alternatively, if you have no other outlet, a staff member will be willing to comfort and advise you to the best of our abilities, and we recommend a more voluntary resource such as The Crisis Text Line .

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For Friends

If a friend or acquaintance confides in you, encourage that they come forward to s in order to handle the issue and prevent further harm to others.

Please keep it private. For the same reasons as before, s may clean up after themself or create an opposing group. There is also the potential for public harassment in the event someone is innocent. Kindly avoid the for the time being and comfort your friend.

False, inflated accusations without evidence may make the rounds, so take special care not to invalidate claims, but treat anything unproven with a grain of salt. False accusations hurt all victims.

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Prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say. While there's no shame in falling victim to a charismatic adult's whims, to prevent stress on yourself, here are some tips in order to lessen the potential to fall victim on the web -- Amino, Instagram, tiktok, or elsewhere.

Incoming format change to allow lists...

Set your boundaries!

•Stick to public chats.

       -Safety comes in numbers.

       -If you are greeted with a PM, their intention carefully before engaging.

•Don't share personal info. (Face, age, etc.)

      -If you feel you must share your age, please keep special diligent watch out for yourself and do not share further information with strangers. Be aware you may be a target.

•Enforce boundaries on personal information.

      -It's easier said than done, but it's crucial to safety.

Do not engage in sexual activity online.

•Regardless of whether or not you believe your partner is who they say they are, this activity is already risky for adults, and even moreso for children.

      -If someone attempts to engage in this behavior with you over this platform or elsewhere if you are under 18, promptly censor and report it, as well as to Cybertip.

      -If a attempts to do this regardless of age on Sonic Amino, please screenshot, copy their link, and report them swiftly to staff so they can be removed per our [guidelines].

Know their tactics.

Now, people can be simply friendly. However knowing the potential red flags that a predator may use to create a relationship/friendship is very useful.

:exclamation: Gaslighting is a tactic which causes an individual to question their reality. If someone says something that doesn't match up to their actions after confrontation, it may be cause for concern. (Exhaust tactics, outbursts, etc.) This may be a sign of various personality disorders, so it may not be a problem unless repeated.

:exclamation: or :bangbang: "Traumadumping" is another common tactic to enforce a bond between a predator and child. This will often create an inappropriate, almost dependent relationship on the child .

:bangbang: "Suicide Baiting" is another variety of trauma dumping in order to make an individual feel as if they are the sole reason someone will not end their life. This is a commonly used manipulation tactic in abs as well as predators.

:bangbang: Maturity flattery/worshipping may be commonly used -- putting a on a pedestal and inflating their ego in order to forge a bond. "You're so mature for your age" is a common one in order to bring a person up.

:bangbang: Referring to oneself as "MAP, shotacon/lolicon, lolisho, proship, zoo". These are all typically used by people who justify their attraction or unethical fetishes.

:exclamation: > :bangbang: Increasingly sexual statements towards/around a minor. Some predators may "test the waters" with small phrases, and work their way up, or figure out where to just "skirt the edge". (Ie discussing attractive features, to fetishes, to making sexual comments towards an oc/profile, and rp scenarios.)

•Beware "online families". They can be a fun idea, but may form a peer group that may contain a predator using the family dynamic to breach boundaries.

•Romance roleplay plots. Some may take it an inch further and use it as a portal to access a minor, be careful of who you choose to interact with.

•Voice calls may be used in order to lessen the chance of gathering evidence, so avoid private calls with people you do not trust.

If someone does 1 or more of the :bangbang: actions, do not hesitate to report them as these are very serious signs of malicious action or interest. :exclamation: or • Signs may be a slip of judgement, but should be factored in.

Please feel free to share any other tactics you have witnessed or fallen victim to as well.

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To Adults

We all know not all of us will have ill intent. However, to keep a respectful distance to your young peers and set boundaries in order to prevent them from becoming uncomfortable. If a fellow adult peer displays concerning behavior, do not hesitate to take preventative action -- Report them to the moderation.

Be kind, and most importantly, be a good influence.

Happy chatting, and stay safe!

Resource Links and Sources

The Crisis Text Line

Cybertip - Incident Reporting

FBI Guide to Reporting and Identifying For Parents

FBI - Sextortion

Missingkids - Grooming Red Flags