The spread of pornography, which is not only illegal but also highly toxic and traumatizing, is a rampant issue across the internet. The evidence of this abusive material is widespread, and it is a distressing reality that alarming rates of child sexual abuse are occurring.
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), also known as child pornography, refers to any visual content involving explicit sexually explicit activities depicting minors, which includes AI-generated content, computer-generated images, digital images, streaming live videos, and photographs.
CSAM more accurately portrays the actual nature of this offense, as opposed to the legal term of child pornography. Child pornography suggests consent, which is something a child can never provide. CSAM involves documenting the brutal and horrifying sexual assault of children, often occurring before they reach puberty and even when they are unable to communicate verbally.
It is crucial to use terminology that reflects the impact of this crime on its victims. Categorizing these images simply as “child pornography” is not sufficient. Our aim is to convey the horrific truth about this imagery by referring to it as “child sexual abuse material.”
What is Thorn doing to address this issue?
Thorn utilizes cutting-edge platforms technology to provide innovative resources, knowledge, and networks essential for combating the dissemination of abusive content and preventing further victimization. Safer, our specialized industry tool, is specifically developed to assist technology companies in identifying, evaluating, and reporting instances of abusive imagery on a large scale.
NoFiltr is a youth-focused prevention program that aims to increase awareness among young people about the risks of sharing online nudes. In addition, it helps parents equip themselves with resources and skills to have judgment-free and productive conversations with their children, preventing abuse. Furthermore, it seeks to change toxic attitudes that shame victims and provides the necessary tools and knowledge for young people to resist online threats. Additionally, programs like Thorn are there to help parents in preventing abuse.
Together, we can tackle child sexual abuse and create a brighter future where every child is free to simply be a kid.
How does abuse material get shared?
The young individual is subjected to numerous instances of victimization, continuously perpetuating the mistreatment and circulating the representation throughout the internet like a contagious wildfire. That material is extensively disseminated beyond the original intended recipients – numbing the sensitivity of perpetrators towards the physical and psychological harm inflicted upon the abused children and fostering interaction among offenders who encourage each other to produce even more explicit and aggressive content within virtual communities. Wrongdoers generate visuals and recordings and subsequently distribute them within online communities, facilitating the effortless sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) among abusers. The internet has facilitated this process.
When a child captures their own explicit images, this is referred to as self-generated CSAM (SG-CSAM). If these images are sent to other children and it goes beyond their trusted relationship, or to an individual who has manipulated and gained their trust, it can unknowingly contribute to the distribution of such material.
Every year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) receives over 32 million notifications of suspected child sexual exploitation. There were 88 million records reported, whereas there were 32 million notifications – each notification frequently includes numerous instances of abusive images and/or videos. At the heart of each of these records is an innocent child.
How can I help survivors?
Some organizations working here provide resources to survivors. If you know someone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse, you are not alone.