AUSTRALIAN police have issued a warning after a video showing child sexual abuse material appeared on Facebook.
A number of people in Sydney and NSW's mid-north coast reported seeing the video on the site "in the last few days", and detectives say it was being circulated among users.
"It is unclear if the video was being posted by a particular user or program," NSW police said in a statement.
"The video, believed to have originated in an overseas location, has since been removed by the social network platform.
"The incident has again prompted police to urge parents and children to be mindful of the dangers associated with the internet."New figures published by the Australian Communications and Media Authority show that 2283 complaints were received about online child sexual abuse material in 2012.
The ACMA launched 1280 investigations and the majority of the websites it examined originated in America and the Netherlands.
Two items of child abuse material were hosted in Australia.
Australian-hosted items are issued with a take-down notice and usually removed from the internet very quickly.
Overseas-hosted items are usually pursued through the international Inhope network, with action taken by local police forces.
News of the video on Facebook prompted immediate comment on the social networking site, with some users claiming to have viewed the abuse.
"I did see the video in question, was sickened by the content, and I saw it from someone who commented on it, which made me very uneasy at the ease it could have ended up in the view of minors," one person said.
Another user added: "Just hope the perpetrators of these clips are caught and our children are safe."
