The One Emoji For All Parents To Look Out For According To Police
Topics: Apple, Technology, Police
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash
Topics: Apple, Technology, Police
Parents have been warned to keep an eye out for one particular emoji over its association with sexual predators.
It can often be difficult to keep up with what certain emojis mean these days, but people are now being urged to look out for this very unassuming icon.
The warning was issued by Australian Federal Police (AFP), highlighting a series of text-codes that could be used to coerce minors to share naked photos.
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The emoji to be wary of is none other than the noodles emoji: 🍜.
Why? Because the food icon can also be a symbol for nudes (sometimes referred to as "noods" online).
By using seemingly harmless emojis like this with secret meanings, AFP warns that sexual predators can groom minors online by appearing younger and avoiding being detected by parents.
Other emojis to look out for include the corn emoji (🌽) which can refer to porn, the hammer emoji (🔨) which can mean sexual activity, and the octopus emoji (🐙) which can refer to cuddles.
As well as that, a number of texting acronyms to keep an eye out for have also been released.
Some of these include:
Sharing the list of emojis and text-codes to look out for, Australian Federal Police Commander Hilda Sirec warned: "Predators have schooled themselves in the language of emojis, emoticons and acronyms in order to groom their victims and the AFP is urging all parents and carers to familiarise themselves with this glossary.
"Understanding how to interpret the messages your children are sending or receiving, such as ‘NP4NP’ which can mean ‘nude pic for nude pic’ or a bowl of noodles emoji, which can represent ‘nude pictures’, could provide a critical clue that a child is at risk of being groomed or engaging in risky behaviour that could put them in harm’s way."