Internet firms’ plan to wipe child abuse images off web

 
5 July 2013

Leading internet companies are in secret talks to develop a system that would eradicate millions of child abuse images from the web.

Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Twitter and at least three other major companies are said to be collaborating over creating a universal system that would tackle the spread of the pictures.

If the plan goes ahead it could see the creation of a single database tracking the worst images that will be maintained by Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, a Los Angeles-based charity founded by Hollywood stars Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.

Thorn director Julie Cordua said: “This has the goal of cleaning this horrific content off platforms and identification of victims.”

Google confirmed it was part of the Thorn project and Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo said they were also discussing online protection issues with the group. Under the plan internet companies will share lists of abuse images with Thorn so they can be taken off all sites.

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