Commodified Sexual Interactions: How money and clout are obscuring risk for youth online

What are “commodified sexual interactions?” 

As young people mature, they naturally explore identity, build relationships, and find ways to express themselves. Today’s children are no different, except that they are growing up in a digital age. 

This means normal coming-of-age behaviors happen both offline and across online platforms. While online exploration and communities can foster belonging, discovery, and self-expression, they also introduce vulnerabilities that individuals with harmful intentions can exploit. 

Thorn’s latest research explores a new harm children face online: commodified sexual interactions. 

Sadly, far too many young people are being confronted with online solicitations for sexual imagery – with 1 in 3 respondents from our latest research reporting they’ve had such an experience before they turned 18. However, reports point to expanding risks associated with these solicitations: for some, they are also being offered money or other items of value to coerce or incentivize engaging in a sexual interaction online. 

This is a commodified sexual interaction.

What the research tells us

The study reveals that 1 in 4 young people report receiving a solicitation to exchange sexual imagery, engage in sexual talk, or participate in sexual interaction in return for something of value before turning 18. In addition, roughly 1 in 7 say they have provided explicit personal imagery or engaged in some other form of sexual interaction online in exchange for something of value.

This shows a troubling trend: young people are getting requests online for sexual photos, chats, or activities that involve receiving money, gaming currencies, or something else of value in return. While commercial sexual exploitation of children has existed for a long time, what we’re seeing now shows young people are having experiences that don’t always match what we think of as commercial sexual exploitation.

The impact of online exchanges

Buying stuff and earning rewards online is now a part of normal, everyday life. People get “likes” and “shares” for the things they post, and many apps give out “streaks” for logging in every day. Popular games and apps often have their own money, like Robux or Minecoins.

Kids are socializing in these same transactional environments where traditional social capital like status and popularity, is being quantified by digital metrics such as followers and likes. This study provides an early snapshot of ways sexual exploration and exploitation are becoming transactional and the types of “incentives” being offered to entice or manipulate young people to share imagery or engage in sexual interactions online. 

Among minors who engaged in a transactional sexual exchange:

• 58% received money
• 33% received social opportunities (e.g., more followers online, party invitations)
• 28% received material goods like clothing, beauty products
• 9% received gaming currency

Young people have always cared about how others see them and their social status. This data shows that online popularity – like having more followers or likes – is being used to entice young people to share sexual photos or videos. Unlike getting money, which is clearly a payment, getting more followers or online fame may not feel like a transaction to many kids. This makes it harder for young people to recognize when they’re being exploited or manipulated through these social rewards.

Unfortunately, some common online behaviors make it easier for people with bad intentions to reach young people. Boundaries are easier to cross online because messages happen fast, and people feel anonymous. In these environments, a sense of trust can grow quickly. Because of this fast pace, it can be hard for young people to tell what’s safe and what might be pressure or manipulation when being offered things they value. 

“Unlike financial transactions, which set off warning bells, the exchange of content for social capital might fly beneath the radar of both teens and their caregivers. We need to talk with young people about how offers of things like online followers and likes might be used to manipulate and exploit them,” said Melissa Stroebel, Vice President of Research and Insights at Thorn. 

Who is making the offer? 

Most people assume that adults are the bad actors asking minors for sexual content online. This research shows that’s not always the case, as many minors reported engaging in transactional sexual exchanges online with another minor. This peer-to-peer exchange may lead kids to think the risk in these interactions is lower than it actually is. 

• 65% of minors who experienced a commodified sexual interaction online said the “buyer” was an adult.
• 42% of minors who engaged in transactional sexual exchanges online said the “buyer” was another minor.

When kids trade sexual content with other kids for things they want–whether money, social status, or other rewards–it can blur the line between individual decision-making and harmful manipulation.  Any attempt to coerce someone into sharing intimate imagery with offers of money, goods, or favors is a problem, regardless of the age of the person asking.

Protecting children in a world where exploration and exploitation collide

While we navigate the evolving risks in peer-to-peer interactions, we need to look closely at the number of adults using the internet to solicit young people for explicit images and interactions. Offers of money or other valuable incentives are proving a concerning tactic to coerce young people to engage. 

“Platforms are uniquely positioned to identify marketplaces for solicitation and implement proactive measures to disrupt exploitative transactions. Relying solely on young people to recognize risk and manipulation places the burden on the very individuals we have a responsibility to protect,” said Stroebel. 

The pace at which marketplace dynamics shift means platforms need to take a proactive approach to threat intelligence and examine how features and policies may exacerbate risk. Further, investing in effective demand-deterrence strategies will not only combat child safety threats but improve user safety more broadly. 

As companies work to combat illicit use of their services, prevention education must also speak clearly about transactional sexual interactions – regardless of if it offers monetary or non-monetary incentives. Parents and supportive adults should incorporate the topic of online sexual exploration into broader discussions of relationships, sex, and digital safety.

Collaborative solutions that bring together technology platforms, policymakers, parents, and others across the child safety ecosystem to address and account for these evolving dynamics and prevent harm must be pursued to safeguard children growing up in a digital age. 

Victims of online sexual exploitation who have shared explicit imagery can use the Take it Down tool from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This will help flag unwanted images online and control the spread of explicit content.

Learn more and support Thorn:

• Read the report to learn about young people’s experiences with commodified online sexual solicitation.
• Explore our parent resources for navigating digital safety with your kids.
• Donate to Thorn to help us continue researching youth experiences and building technology that protects children.