Dražen Klokočki, head of the criminal intelligence unit at the Karlovac Police Department, warns that parents must take a key role in protecting children online, especially after the number of criminal offenses involving child exploitation for pornography has dramatically increased.
Children's safety on social media is becoming an increasingly serious challenge, and the latest data from the Karlovac Police Department vividly illustrates this. Dražen Klokočki, head of the criminal intelligence unit, presented alarming statistics indicating a drastic rise in criminal offenses related to the exploitation of children for pornography in the Karlovac area.
According to Klokočki, only two such criminal offenses were recorded during the entire year of 2025. However, in the first half of 2026, that number jumped to ten. "So in 2025, the Karlovac Police Department had two criminal offenses of child exploitation for pornography for the entire year. This year, 2026, in the first half of the year alone, we have ten criminal offenses. Just looking at half a year, that's an increase of about 400 percent," he stated for Trend Karlovac.
This alarming increase has occurred amid the growing presence of children on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, where age restrictions are often bypassed, and children are exposed to inappropriate content and potentially dangerous contacts.
Klokočki emphasizes that while social networks themselves should pay more attention to user verification, the greatest burden of responsibility falls on parents. "In my opinion, they should pay a bit more attention to that part of verification, but the greatest responsibility lies with parents who let their children use social media unsupervised, without seeing who the child is communicating with, what they're doing online, etc.," he said.
He stressed that parental supervision does not mean constantly hovering over the child, but rather actively engaging with their digital life. "We don't have to be, let's say colloquially, the bogeyman and stand over the child watching what they do. But let's be parents in the true sense and take care of what the child is doing online," Klokočki urged.
A particular danger comes from individuals who hide their identity on social media and falsely present themselves as children to make contact with minors. Communication often starts seemingly innocently, for example, with an offer of mobile phone top-up vouchers, but quickly escalates into demands for explicit photos or videos.
In such situations, it is crucial that the child has a trusting relationship with parents or other adults. "If something happens, establish trust between the child and the parent, and that parent should report it to us, or the child can report it at school, to a pedagogue, homeroom teacher, or anyone. So, don't ignore it, because the child then keeps that content inside and all sorts of things can happen," Klokočki warned.
The police also appeal to parents not to delete profiles, messages, or other digital traces in the event of unwanted contact or threats, as they are crucial evidence in an investigation.
Klokočki sees insufficient digital literacy among both parents and children as one of the key issues. He believes that education about internet safety should be more strongly integrated into the educational system, as well as into everyday upbringing at home. Parents also have various technical tools at their disposal, such as parental control settings on devices, restricting the installation of new apps, and setting profiles to private.
Klokočki concluded that the number of followers on social media should not be a measure of popularity, especially when a child doesn't even know a large portion of those people. The message is clear: children need to be educated about the dangers of the digital world and a relationship should be built in which they feel safe reporting any problem.
