What can be done

As survivors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), we are in a war to be seen as more than files that are uploaded, downloaded, traded, and circulated across global internet platforms. We don’t want children to continue to suffer in the ways we have.

The world needs to know there ARE solutions.

Project Arachnid is a tool that brings us so much hope. We never knew there was any hope for getting the images of our abuse taken down from the internet. Operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, with participation from hotlines around the world, Project Arachnid uses automated detection methods to help get CSAM off the internet. Project Arachnid also provides ways for companies to detect known CSAM on their platforms, and prevent its upload — for free. There’s no reason an image should EVER reappear on a site once it has been identified as abuse material.

Now that we know there are ways to do it, we want it all shut down. The uploading, downloading, sharing, and recirculation of child sexual abuse crime scenes can and should be stopped immediately. We don’t want even one more child to have to survive the horror we face, and we know any further suffering is unnecessary. Here’s how you can help:

Governments:

Legislate that tech companies must:

• Scan their platforms for known CSAM
• Prevent the upload of known CSAM
• Enforce legal consequences for ESPs who continue to choose profit over children

Tech companies:

• Scan your platforms for known CSAM
• Use tools to prevent the upload of known CSAM
• Immediately comply with CSAM takedown notices from trusted flaggers
• Implement proactive, effective strategies to address the ways in which a new platform feature will impact the ability to identify and report CSAM to law enforcement and/or national clearinghouses before launching the new feature.

Citizens:

• When you read claims that tech is doing everything they can, we urge you to stop and think about where the claims are coming from. Here’s a list of times tech companies failed to protect their users.
• Demand that governments pass laws that regulate the tech industry, the same as any other industry is, especially as it impacts children so significantly. Learn more about some of the regulation efforts happening internationally right now — such as the Online Safety Acts already leading the way in the United Kingdom and Australia — and support them in your country:
  • USA: EARN IT Act of 2023
  • European Union: Legislation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse
  • Canada: The Government’s commitment to address online safety