Police are warning children to stay safe online amid a rise in reports of online child exploitation.
It comes after New Zealand authorities received shocking referrals from a tipline.
The tipline, run by America's National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), works with the public and social media sites who notify them of sexually explicit content involving children.
NCMEC then notifies the local law enforcement agencies of the content.
"These include instances of sextortion, and child sexual abuse being posted online and sent via private messages," a police spokesperson said on Tuesday.
NCMEC has received 36 million tipline reports over the last year, up from 29.3 million reports in 2021 and 32 million in 2022.
Of those reports,19,856 were referred on to New Zealand agencies in 2023, a significant increase from 15,000 reports in 2022.
The officer in charge of New Zealand Police Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand Team (OCEANZ) admits the latest statistics "are not surprising" but "it should be cause for increased concern".
"Reports from NCMEC which contain information about victims and online offenders here in New Zealand have almost quadrupled in the last five years alone," Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards said.
"Each referral is risk assessed by dedicated investigators in the OCEANZ (Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand) team to identify cases requiring immediate action to safeguard children, or to identify and hold to account those responsible for causing harm."
An initial investigation is completed at OCEANZ before it is sent to local teams for conclusion.
He said following referrals, some people are arrested and charged where offending is identified.
In other cases, prevention visits and conversations take place, particularly when they involve a young person.
Child Exploitation Operations Team's Chief Customs Officer Simon Peterson warns: "Behind every one of these reports is an online user, here in New Zealand, who may pose a real threat to our communities and our tamariki, in particular."
"The majority of objectionable material that New Zealand agencies deal with show real children being harmed through often-horrific sexual abuse."
He described the abuse as "heartbreaking".
"Ever-increasing reporting of online offending is a clear marker for increasing global demand, and victimisation, of our society's most vulnerable."
Manager of the Digital Child Exploitation Team at the Department of Internal Affairs Tim Houston urges young Kiwis to be aware that any information they share with unknown people or online profiles can be used against them.
"We regularly encounter intimate content that children and young persons have generated of themselves within the collections of child sexual exploitation material possessed by offenders," Houston said.
"The advice to young people and parents is to remain vigilant online, be 100 percent sure of who you are communicating with, and if you suspect you are engaging with an adult posing as another child, report it."
Det Snr Sgt Richards said over half of the sextortion victims are young males aged between 13 and 21.
However, he added "it can affect anyone of any age, so we ask everyone online to be vigilant and mindful of their safety."
"Sextortion is a global issue and as technology continues to advance so too does methods for targeting victims."
He said offshore offenders are often responsible, where they persuade victims to send sexually explicit content before blackmailing them.
"The offending generally begins with a direct message sent to the victim on social media through a convincing, yet fake, account," he explained.
"The victim is then asked to continue chatting on a different app, and the conversation often becomes highly sexualised. Victims are then asked to share images, in some cases sexually explicit images, which are then used to blackmail them."
"In some cases, offenders are reported to alter seemingly innocent images to look explicit."
The rise in reports comes as the Public Service Association on Monday revealed plans to cut 79 New Zealand Customs Service jobs and 41 roles at the Department of Internal Affairs.
These positions include those working in the ports and airports, as well as those dealing with digital harm, child exploitation, money laundering, counter-terrorism and other regulatory roles.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins called the cuts "bizarre" and "frankly appalling".
"The digital child exploitation team leads important work cracking down on criminals and is New Zealand's bridge to international law enforcement agencies," he said.
"It identified more than 90,000 online accounts that traded or possessed child sexual abuse material in a single mission in 2022 and 46 people based in New Zealand were arrested as a result."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended the proposals and pushed blame on the previous Government for its "wasteful spending".
"What we've said to the CEOs of those agencies is make sure that every single person, every single dollar, every resource you've got to keep working at that to make sure that it's focused on the frontline services and delivering better outcomes for New Zealanders."
