Emphasizing that photos and data of millions of children are shared online every year, Horzum warned that these photos are not only seen by relatives or people with good intentions but also by "dark networks" and pedophiles.
He said that criminal networks on the Internet communicate with children through some social media accounts that appear to be producing content for them, as well as methods such as phishing.
"Malicious people are creating fake accounts and committing fraud with accounts belonging to children and families," he stated.
"Although the photos you share do not directly serve this purpose, they deceive other children and lead to inappropriate photos of those children being taken and different children being abused.
"An innocent photo taken during a physical education lesson can be used for different purposes on the Internet," he warned.
Touching on the fact that Deepfake technology is used in popular game platforms mostly visited by children, Horzum stated: "It is a dangerous attitude that families think every game is the same and do not care about the actual content."
"These platforms, which include thousands of contents from sexually explicit games to games that are not appropriate for the child's age, must be regularly monitored by families."
He also underlined that this situation, which can also appear as cyberbullying, blackmail, abuse, or fraud, can impede children's personal and cognitive development.
"We see psychological effects such as wetting the bed at night, nightmares, depression at an early age, anxiety, self-esteem disorder, withdrawal, and traumatic stress disorders in victimized children," he stressed, adding: "In advanced dimensions, we encounter cases of suicide."
Besides monitoring the contents of games or applications used by children, parents should also seek professional guidance on the matter, he advised.
"Families should receive training on Internet safety from teachers or professionals and transfer this information to children in an appropriate way," he stated.
"Every photo, every location, and every piece of information should not be shared on social media, and this should be told to children by families.
"Raising and increasing awareness is very important in the Internet use."
