It is a horrifying nightmare.这是一个可怕的噩梦。
Papua New Guinea (PNG) Police Commissioner David Manning recently revealed that children across the country are falling victim to sexual exploitation, with their abuse being recorded and shared both locally and internationally.巴布亚新几内亚（PNG）
These disturbing materials are spreading rapidly on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Reels.
“These are PNG’s children! They are being exploited, their images uploaded online and commodified,” Manning said with anguish during a press briefing on Sunday night.“
“If this does not wake up the entire nation, then we have lost the very essence of our humanity!”
A Moral Collapse: The Dark Crimes of the Digital Age
Official data shows a shocking rise in online child sexual exploitation cases in PNG:
- In 2020, police received 3,140 reports.
- In 2021, the number nearly doubled to 7,000.
- By 2023, it surpassed 11,000 cases.
- The figures for last year are expected to be even more alarming, with many still unreported.
Behind these numbers lie countless children’s pain, helplessness, and a society’s complete failure to protect them.
Manning strongly criticized the social media giants:
“These multinational tech corporations have not reported these crimes to PNG police. Instead, they buried the cases in their annual reports and only disclosed them to foreign regulators. This is outrageous!”
But the police are not backing down.
“This is a fight we must continue—for the sake of our children and the future of our communities!” Manning declared.
A National Crisis Demands a National Response
In the face of escalating child exploitation crimes, the PNG government must immediately establish a national special task force, mobilizing multiple agencies, including:
- The Police
- National Intelligence Organization (NIO)
- Correctional Services
- The Department of Justice
- The National Information and Communication Technology Authority (NICTA)
- The Censorship Board
These perpetrators must be treated as human traffickers or even terrorists, and punished under the Anti-Terrorism Act—for they are stealing and destroying the innocence of the next generation.
Police investigations have already uncovered 177,000 Facebook users involved in sharing illegal pornographic content and child sexual exploitation materials.
These online predators operate through closed communities and private groups, engaging in illicit transactions. In one disturbing case earlier this year, police intercepted a man attempting to sell an underage girl to a client at a cheap motel.
Authorities are now identifying suspects behind these social media accounts and have launched full-scale investigations to bring them to justice.
Faced with such heinous crimes, Prime Minister James Marape must take immediate and decisive action to root out these digital predators.
This is not just a moral crisis—it is a threat to the very future of the nation. If the government fails to act now, this will become a deeply entrenched social cancer for Papua New Guinea.
