The internet is becoming one of the main channels for engaging minors in illegal activities. Teenagers are recruited to commit crimes, are inclined toward participating in extremist and terrorist formations, use them in fraud schemes and illegal drug trafficking. Parents should pay attention to what and how to protect children from such threats, learned from representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office, the Investigative Committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs during a press conference on the topic "Youth in a zone of risk. How not to involve them in illegal activities and terrorism".

Senior Prosecutor for Special Assignments of the General Prosecutor's Office for Oversight of the Implementation of Legislation on Minors and Youth, Roman Sidorenko, noted that by the end of the nine months of the current year, it was possible to achieve a reduction in juvenile crime compared to the corresponding period of last year. At the same time, he emphasized that it causes concern when minors commit serious and especially serious crimes, including using the internet network.

Among such offenses are the production and distribution of pornographic materials depicting minors, obviously false messages about danger, fraud and extortion. According to a representative of the General Prosecutor's Office, there have been increasing cases where teenagers independently create and send photographs and video materials of an intimate nature to other people. The recipients can be acquaintances or people with whom minors have met online and never met in person. Later, such materials can be used for blackmail, extortion, and involvement in criminal activity. At the same time, children do not always understand that responsibility can also fall on them for distributing such materials.

Another problem is their participation in internet fraud. Wanting to earn quickly, they post advertisements for selling clothes, shoes, mobile phones and other goods on trading platforms, receiving money from buyers but not fulfilling their obligations. Sometimes friends and acquaintances become victims.

Roman Sidorenko also drew attention to cases where teenagers become initiators of obviously false danger messages due to conflicts and a desire for revenge against acquaintances. For this, they turn to participants of thematic groups and chats in social networks and messengers, including those located abroad. "Minors naively believe that if they do not themselves disseminate obviously false information, they are not committing any crime. But in this case their actions are qualified as incitement to commit a crime, and they bear criminal responsibility along with the executors," explained the senior prosecutor for special instructions.

He emphasized that the most important role in prevention plays the family. Parents need to be interested not only in the real circle of children's communication but also in whom they are messaging online. At the same time, control should not turn into total surveillance and should not destroy trusting relationships. "It is important not only to prevent crimes and offenses but also to identify risks and threats of their commission to minimize the possibility of their realization in the future," noted Roman Sidorenko.

In this connection, legal education of parents and minors, as well as training in safe behavior in the digital environment, acquire special significance.

Recruiters are looking for teenagers in messengers

Alexander Sudoľsky, an official representative of the Investigative Committee, told about the ways of involving youth in extremist and terrorist activities. According to him, recruitment most often begins with communication in the internet. Perpetrators use the vulnerability of teenagers, their desire for recognition, the wish to belong to a certain group and to earn a quick income. "Terrorism and extremism never begin abruptly. It begins with an idea, with the constant narrowing of horizons, with the division of the world into different

According to Alexander Sukhodolsky, to counter such influence, above all, one must use family upbringing, development

Another serious problem remains the involvement of minors in the illegal drug trade. According to Alexander Sukhodolsky, teenagers are promised high income and also guaranteed anonymity and safety. However, in practice such promises have nothing to do with reality. "The duration of a plant's work at present amounts to up to 24 hours, when at the very first attempt to distribute drugs he is detained by militia officers, and subsequently he is brought to criminal responsibility," - said a SK representative.

He pointed out that teenagers can also be involved in organized criminal groups under the guise of performing harmless part-time work. For example, they are offered to make stenciled graffiti on buildings or to perform other tasks that are allegedly not directly related to drug distribution. However, such actions can also lead to criminal liability.

Separately, an investigative department employee focused on fraud schemes in which minors are used as couriers. The perpetrators first initiate correspondence with the teenager, and under the pretext of ordinary communication they obtain his personal data, contacts of acquaintances or information about his place of residence. Then fraudulent law enforcement officials are contacted and claim that the information transmitted allegedly reached representatives of a terrorist organization.

Threatening criminal prosecution, they convince the teenager to conduct so-called declaration of funds or to participate in a special operation to identify fraudsters. As a result, children take money from home or pass funds to couriers of other victims. "The main thesis of the fraudsters who connect with teenagers is that they must not

In addition, in August, law enforcement officials uncovered two students from Gorky who, at the direction of Telegram channel curators, made more than ten false messages about the bombing of educational institutions in Belarus and Russia. One of the teenagers was also inclined toward attacking students of a high school, for which they purchased an axe, a load-bearing vest, and tactical equipment. However, on the planned day, the minor refused to commit the crime.

One ban on the internet is not enough

Attention was given separately to the role of parents in ensuring children's safety. According to experts, it is mistaken to believe that a child is safe only because they spend free time at home in front of a computer. "If a child is at home and constantly sits on the internet, it does not mean that they cannot commit a crime, and it does not mean that they cannot become a victim of a crime," emphasized Alexander Sudolsky. He noted that a significant part of crimes has moved to the digital environment, and recruiters and scammers use social networks and messengers to find potential victims.

Roman Sidorenko, in turn, reminded that responsibility for raising children and ensuring their information security primarily lies with parents. Legislative changes provide duties for

Concluding the meeting, Roman Bardey reminded that special units operate within the Ministry of Internal Affairs that deal with identifying individuals involved in unlawful activities online. "If you have suspicions that unlaw