More about the power of PhotoDNA and similar tools

Child abuse images, Regulation, Self-regulation, Uncategorized 1 Minute

Twitter report that in the first 6 months of 2018 they suspended nearly half a million accounts for violations relating to child sexual exploitation. 97% of those accounts were proactively flagged using PhotoDNA and similar tools.

In Dublin on Friday a Google spokesperson  informed us that of  7.8 million videos they removed from YouTube in the three months July-September, 2018, 81% had been identified by automated systems and of these 74.5% appear never to have been viewed by anyone. Not a single person. The latter numbers cover all categories of materials, of which CSAM likely was a part, but either way they illustrate the power of the technology.

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Published by John Carr

John Carr is one of the world's leading authorities on children's and young people's use of the internet and digital technologies. He is a former Senior Technical Adviser to Bangkok-based global NGO ECPAT International and a former Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety. John has advised the Council of Europe, the UN (ITU), UNODC, the EU and UNICEF. A former member of Microsoft's Policy Board for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and a former Vice President of Mspace, he has also advised several of the world's largest technology companies on online child safety and ethical investors with shares in high tech businesses. John's skill as a writer has also been widely recognised. http://johncarrcv.blogspot.com and https://substack.com/@johnc1912

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