Images depicting child sexual abuse have become notoriously widespread on the internet, and while steps have been taken to reduce its prevalence it continues to be an issue despite major efforts. A UK based charity called the Internet Watch Foundation tried to contribute to the mitigation of CSA image distribution online by creating a database that contains over a million digital fingerprints of images that have already been detected in the hopes that this will prevent them from spreading further.
The images themselves come from a database created by the UK
government that contains some of the most disturbing videos and images in this
category. The IWF used an algorithm to create individual hashes that would mark
these images in a unique way, and with all of that having been said and now out
of the way it is important to note that there are still ways in which sexual
abusers can work around them by making subtle changes to the images in
question.
Additionally, some images are encrypted which means that
creating digital fingerprints for them is just not possible with all things
having been considered and taken into account. In spite of the fact that this
is the case, this nonprofit managed to delete over a quarter of a million
websites, or 252,000 to be precise, which contained images depicting some form
of child sexual abuse.
Some of the children that are being shown in these pictures
are as young as five years old, and that reveals the nefarious extent to which
this problem has grown. Children need to be protected at all costs, and their
abuse and the recording of it is turning into an unfortunate industry that
keeps finding new homes for itself after actions are taken to crack down on it.
This registry is a positive step, but many more will have to
be taken before actual change can be seen. Children will not be safe online as
long as such images are allowed to circulate, and Big Tech has a pretty significant
role to play here as well.
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