As the internet continues to become more advanced when it comes to communication and the sharing of content, so do the dangers that lurk in the shadows. One of those is the unfortunate exploitation of children through the sharing of explicit content. Something that has occurred since the beginning of the internet sadly.
Social networks like Facebook, Reddit, and certain blog-themed networks, have been plagued with trying to stop users from taking advantage of their platforms for these kinds of activities.
Facebook is one of the latest who has announced two tools they have been working on which will roll out to help combat this. The tools aren’t a solution to the problem, but they will hopefully, at least, minimize the problem through education and awareness that these users can face severe (and well-deserved) consequences.
Tool #1 targets users who are searching for related content, providing a pop-up notification that offers ways to get help from offender diversion organizations. It will also share warnings about the consequences of viewing illegal content in order to hopefully persuade them to seek help and to cease and desist their activities.
Tool #2 focuses on users that are posting exploitive content. It will search for common/viral content that is known to be exploitive and warn the user when they attempt to post it. Like the other tool, it will provide educative material that focuses on how this harms children and the legal consequences of posting such content. The tool will also remove the content so that it cannot be seen by others, and will log the infraction and report it to NCMEC.
The second tool being the most useful since it will automatically report the incident to an organization that is capable of investigating and taking action against the user if necessary.
Facebook’s system will work to remove accounts that are known to promote this content and look for others using behavioral signals they have learned through a detailed collection of data and analysis.
This method might sound familiar since other companies have taken similar measures to filter out content that can be hurtful to children. Google, for example, has been implementing the same approaches to prevention and tracking. Google’s search engine will inform users who are searching for inappropriate content in similar ways.
Again, this isn’t a fix, but it is a possible solution to minimizing the existence of this content on the internet. Especially if other companies/networks take similar actions to reduce and remove such content within their own platforms. Every bit of effort helps fight the bigger goal.
Hopefully, Facebook’s new tools will be accurate as both FB and Twitter have been known for tools that trigger false positives, causing normal/safe posts to be labeled for things they shouldn’t be labeled for. This would be the last thing you would want your profile to tagged with. I am sure they are working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen though (positive thinking).
It is good to see Facebook taking action on such an important topic. Love them or hate them, they have been making the right move here or there recently. This shines a light of hope on their platform.
