Australia’s online safety regulator has told the largest technology companies in the world that the tools to stop sexual extortion already exist, and that they are not using them, reports The Next Web.
In a transparency report published on Tuesday, eSafety said companies including Apple, Meta, and Google have “significant gaps” in how they detect and prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse.
From the report, which is designed to support transparency about compliance with the Australian Government’s Basic Online Safety Expectations: Specifically, this snapshot looks at the issue of sexual extortion, which occurs when victims are tricked or coerced into sending intimate images or videos of themselves to someone who then threatens to share the images or video unless demands are met, usually for payment. It is a widespread and acute harm, that affects both children and adults. Sexual extortion is a form of image-based abuse – the threatened or actual sharing of intimate images or videos without consent – however, when it targets children, it is also a form of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Here are three key findings from the report:
° Proactively detecting new CSEA images and videos. When this is not done, the material may circulate on services unless and until someone reports it – even though there are tools that can be used to find it sooner and ensure that law enforcement agencies can be made aware of potential new victims who need to be identified and rescued.
° Stopping live online CSEA from occurring in video calls. Only Microsoft is using tools to detect and disrupt live online CSEA in video calls. No other providers are using proactive detection tools to detect CSEA in video calls.
° Implementing tools to detect and prevent children being groomed, which can involve children producing CSEA material or even meeting perpetrators in person.
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