Sick world of ‘fetish mining’ where ASMR YouTubers as young as 8 are asked to perform sexualised acts for paedos

WEIRD adult “fetish miners” are hoodwinking YouTubers — some as young as eight — to perform sexualised acts. 

The online perverts try to dupe youngsters who post ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos into performing acts which give them sexual kicks. 

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The Sun Online found a numerous examples of very specific requests on YouTube channels that are run by teenage “ASMR artists”.

They run accounts and do requests in a bid to win more subscribers.

These clips aim to create a relaxing tingling feeling some people experience in the head and down their spine when hearing certain noises recorded with high quality microphones.

However, the youngsters are increasingly being targeted by adults who “fetish mining” — which involves tricking someone into doing something for sexual pleasure.

Internet safety groups have sounded the alarm and urged the tech giants and parents to better protect children online.

In one worrying comment thread, a man asked for a girl to dress up as Alice in Wonderland, while another requested she dress in her sister’s clothes. 

ASMR videos teen girls often then end up being saved down and reposted on porn sites by the sickos.

YouTube guideline bans any “content featuring non-consensual sex acts, unwanted sexualisation or anything that graphically sexualises or degrades an individual”. 

And they encourage people to report anything that does this. 

But the problem is that pedophile fetish miners often appear to be asking harmless questions to coax young ASMR YouTubers into performing acts that give them pleasure.

By the way I was 14 or 15 and did not know what a foot fetish was

YouTuber Rebecca Flint

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK based charity, warned of the danger of children being coerced into performing potentially sexual acts online.

“We know predators are out there. They are extremely devious people looking to contact and exploit children, and they will use any means at their disposal to do so, a spokesman told The Sun Online.

“If a child is approached by a stranger who makes inappropriate sexual requests online, they need to have the confidence to block and report them.”

Alison Trew, NSPCC Child Safety Online Senior Policy Officer, said: “This is clearly concerning.

“Adults shouldn’t be able to comment on kid’s online content for their own satisfaction and sites shouldn’t be pushing young people’s content towards them through algorithms.

“Sites that are used by kids, like YouTube, must put in place effective age-assurance technology to be able to identify child users and ensure they are given greater protections, such as the highest privacy settings.

“The upcoming Age Appropriate Design Code will include a requirement for tech companies to do this and it should be backed up by an ambitious Online Safety Bill that delivers strong and lasting protections for children.”

Adults shouldn’t be able to comment on kid’s online content for their own satisfaction and sites shouldn’t be pushing young people’s content towards them through algorithms

NSPCC Child Safety Online Senior Policy Officer

Vice reported a child aged eight was asked to wear “pigtails” and make a video with “mouth sounds close to the mic” as well as asking “when are you going to fulfil my request?”, adding doing so would get her more subscribers.

Elsewhere, it was found girls being asked to whisper sexual innuendos such as “calm in my mouth”, or to act out sexualised hand gestures.

YouTuber Rebecca Flint, AKA Beckii Cruel, who coined the phrase fetish mining after being targeted, shared her experience on her channel:.

She said: “Sometimes you don’t realise it is happening to you until it is too late.

“And you have given them what they want.”

But while she did not condemn quirky fetishes, she did point out that one of the number one rules about any kind of kink was consent. 

She said: “This is completely against that because this is about trying to get people to participate without having informed consent.”

‘TIE PANTYHOSE AROUND MOUTH?’

Often, Rebecca said, the fetish miners will pose as kids and ask questions or make requests in a child-like way to throw their victims off guard. 

Other times they may say they are from a charity, she said on her channel.

Recalling one incident when she was 14 or 15, Rebecca described being messaged by someone claiming they were from a major shoe brand in the guise of raising awareness of poverty. 

They asked her to take a close-up picture of the bottom of her feet.

She said: “That was clearly fetish mining to try to get me to do close up pics for them under the guise of charity. 

“By the way I was 14 or 15 and did not know what a foot fetish was. 

“Children don’t necessarily know why these kinds of things are unsavoury.

You should not be asking a child to make that kind of content

Youtuber Lilliana De

“I think maybe the whole idea of people not knowing they are playing into it, or being a part of it, maybe that is what is getting them off in some way.”

On another occasion she said she was badgered by an account that used Disney images, asking whether she had an innie or outie belly button.

When she looked into it she discovered that person was asking other YouTubers the same question. 

Other weird requests involved staging acts involving armpits, ears, noses and mouths.

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Another ASMR creator, who goes by the account name SLaney, reported on her channel being asked to shoot a video where her mouth is covered with duct tape and to wear gloves to “attract more viewers”.

Someone else also asked her to to do an “ASMR kidnapping role play with scarf masking?” and to “do a video of pantyhose tied around your mouth like a gag”.

Lilliana De, 27, who goes by the account name Lily Whispers ASMR, told Vice she has witnessed several attempts at fetish mining child ASMR artists, as well as “straight-up sexual requests”, such as asking for “kissing sounds or ear eating”.

She said: “You should not be asking a child to make that kind of content.”

In one instance, Lilliana said a suspected fetish miner would target young ASMR creators and ask them to pose up reading the book Commotion in the Ocean before sending the book to them in the post.

Julia Von Weiler, the executive director of Innocence In Danger, a global organisation working to protect children against sexual abuse, told Vice fetish mining was just one of many threats. 

She said: “Children are especially vulnerable and need support to find their way within the digital realms.

“Using them to satisfy some emotional or physical need — regardless of whether it’s sexual or non-sexual — violates their boundaries.”

The Sun Online contacted YouTube for a comment and is awaiting a response.