CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

There has been an explosion of online child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) that has reached crisis proportions.  In 2023 there were 35.9 million reports of CSAM containing over 100 million images and videos. Many of these involve children 10 years old or younger. Many more incidents go unreported. 75% of children trafficked or sold for sex are advertised online. There has also been a growing trend in financial sextortion and the use of generative AI in child sexual exploitation.

 

Improvements in technology, the growing use of mobile devices by kids, and an increase of online usage during the COVID pandemic have exponentially increased the risk to children from sexual predators.

 

In 2023, Meta (formally Facebook), the world’s largest social media company, was the source for more than 30 million reports, which accounts for 85% of cases reported in the U.S.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the national clearinghouse for CSAM materials in the U.S., estimated that Meta’s plan to apply end-to-end encryption to its platforms could effectively make invisible 70% of CSAM cases that are currently being detected and reported.

 

The Women’s Inclusion Project, along with faith-based investors, is engaging Meta and other companies involved with social media, data storage, telecommunications, and device producers.

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We are asking companies to:

• Block, remove, and report online child sexual abuse and exploitation materials and cooperate with legal authorities to stop child predators and online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

• Report on the potential sexual exploitation of children through their products and services, as well as the company’s oversight, policies and practices regarding this issue.

• Delay plans to apply end-to-end encryption (which will effectively hide content and protect sexual predators and prevent law enforcement action) until the company can stop child sexual exploitation on its products.

Action:

• WIP participants have filed child safety shareholder resolutions at Meta/Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, Verizon and Sprint/T-Mobil, and have engaged in dialogue with AT&T.

• Meta/Facebook: Meta is the largest source of online child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and its plan to deploy end-to-end encryption across its platforms will make much of this content invisible, putting children at even more risk. Four of our five shareholder resolutions received a majority of the non-management controlled vote, representing nearly a billion shares and hundreds of billions in value.  

• In June 2020, Facebook, Alphabet, Microsoft and 15 other companies launched Project Protect, a new initiative of the Technology Coalition to help combat online child sexual abuse.

• Verizon: We withdrew our 2020 resolution after Verizon became one of the first companies to agree to conduct a child risk assessment across all its business operations. Our 2019 resolution received 34% support representing over 940 million shares worth over $53 billion.

 

Both the offices of the U.S. Attorney General and the UK Home Office have contacted us in appreciation of our efforts to help stop online sexual abuse.