Woman who investigated internet crimes against children issues chilling warning to parents about why they should NEVER post pictures of their kids online Alex Hoffman alleged that she used to work in child exploitation investigation She went viral after revealing what she learned about internet sex crimes Hoffman said many photos of kids on the dark web are taken from social media By Erica Nardozzi For Dailymail.Com Published: 07:36 EDT, 14 August 2023 | Updated: 01:23 EDT, 15 August 2023 e-mail 107 shares 68 View comments A woman who worked in child exploitation investigation has lifted the lid on the horrifying reason why you shouldn't post photos of your children on social media. Alex Hoffman, a 24-year-old law student known as @definitelynotalex04 , has more than 100,000 followers on TikTok , where she shares videos about her life and interests. The content creator went viral this week after revealing what she learned while investigating internet sex crimes against children as a government worker. 'A majority of photos uploaded of children to the dark web are taken from normal people's Facebook and Instagram pages ,' she said. Alex Hoffman, 24, went viral on TikTok after revealing what she learned while investigating internet sex crimes against children as a government worker 'A majority of photos uploaded of children to the dark web are taken from normal people's Facebook and Instagram pages,' she said 'If you see a suggested person on your Facebook page that you have no mutual friends with, it means that they searched your profile at least three times.' Hoffman explained that 'the dark web is not some mysterious and exclusive place,' saying 'all you have to do is download a browser' to access hidden internet sites. 'Child exploitation is a billion-dollar industry and there are thousands of websites being created every single day to share photos and videos,' she said. 'My advice to parents would be to really limit your child on social media because photos and videos can be warped and placed on the dark web extremely easily.' Hoffman's eye-opening video was viewed more than 7.9 million times and received thousands of comments in one day. The aspiring lawyer filmed a series of follow-up clips further explaining why it's best to keep your children off of social media. 'A lot of photos of children that are put on the dark web are not explicit,' she noted, saying she saw a lot of pictures of children in gymnastics and dance leotards. 'These parents often had no idea that their child was on the dark web. Additionally, just normal photos of children can be warped into images that are explicit even though there was never an explicit photo being taken,' she added. @definitelynotalex04 Lmk if u have any questions- pls keep ur kids safe! #parents #safety #online #darkweb #hsi #grw ♬ original sound - Alex Hoffman's video was viewed 7.9 million times in one day, and the aspiring lawyer filmed a series of follow-up clips further explaining why it's best to keep your kids off of social media Hoffman added that having private social media pages is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't guarantee your pictures won't be taken without your knowledge Hoffman's videos have received thousands of comments, and many people were admittedly shocked by her warning 'Lastly, and probably most disturbingly, there will be children who go viral on the dark web, and there's no reason for this. It just happens, and there will be pages and websites and forums dedicated to just sending pictures of this child.' Many commenters wanted to know if they are safe to post pictures of their children if they have their profiles set to private. 'It depends,' she responded. 'I think that when you're on private it significantly decreases the chances that predators are going to likely see the photo of your child. However, I do strongly believe that it is based on the content of the photo.' Hoffman explained that issues arrive when there is an 'erotic potential' to a picture that a parent might not recognize. 'By erotic potential, I mean a photo of your child eating, a photo of your child in a diaper, a photo of your child in distress, a photo of your child in a bathing suit,' she explained. 'These are the types of photos that a predator could warp out of context. 'They can add whatever they want. They can add a person to the photo. They can subtract things from the photo. They can create things that were not actually there in the photo. We're all adults. We know what's suggestive and we know what's not. 'But you also need to be a little bit careful and kind of read between the lines and see what could possibly be taken out of context and what could possibly be created in a photo if you are choosing to put your child on the internet,' she concluded. Many commenters were admittedly shocked by Hoffman's warning. 'Wait what?! They edit these photos before putting them in the dark web? Honestly that's scary. I had no idea,' one person wrote. 'It’s extremely alarming to me how many parents in all these comments didn’t know this happens and how common it is,' another added. 'Ever since I’ve had my children, people have asked me why I don’t share more pictures of them. This is exactly why!' someone else noted. 'But some people just don’t get it.' 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