A Sunday report from the New York Timeslays bare a chilling statistic regarding the role social media platforms can Women Without Innocenceplay in facilitating child sexual abuse and the spread of child pornography online.
Of the 18.4 million reports of child sexual abuse worldwide in 2018, a staggering 12 million trace back to Facebook Messenger. That's according to "people familiar with the reports." Although it's only one facet of a much more widespread problem, the outsize role played by Messenger is hard to overlook.
Even more troubling is the fact that efforts in the tech space to protect users could only worsen the situation. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg wrote at length back in March about the company's plans to create a more secure platform, and it's a process that includes encrypting private content on the site.
That could create more problems than it fixes, though. Encrypted messaging provides a level of security to everyone who uses it, including abusers and sexual predators. With that kind of protection in place, not even a platform holder (like Facebook) can view the messages being sent.
That's significant when you account for the fact that a majority of reports on wrongdoing come from the platform holders themselves. So while most of us would rather not have a social media gatekeeper snooping in on our private conversations, there's a case to be made that it does serve a purpose.
Zuckerberg addressed this directly back in March. "Encryption is a powerful tool for privacy, but that includes the privacy of people doing bad things," he wrote. "When billions of people use a service to connect, some of them are going to misuse it for truly terrible things like child exploitation, terrorism, and extortion."
Going the "no encryption" route carries its own risks, though. For people living under oppressive governments, or who are at a higher risk of being hacked, unencrypted messaging is a liability. It's very much a "damned if you do; damned if you don't" kind of situation.
This very thing was the subject of a conference held at Stanford earlier in September featuring a range of interests, from platform-holders to government agencies to activists and academics. An on-the-ground report from The Verge reinforced just how complicated these questions really are. Even if everyone at the conference agrees in principle that child pornography is a bad thing, finding the right ways to combat it simply aren't easy.
SEE ALSO: Facebook's 'clear history' feature delayed in U.S. over sex-trafficking caseAs the report's author, Casey Newton, pointed out in summarizing one of the day's big takeaways: "Something can be secure even if it's not encrypted, and something can be unsafe even if it is." There aren't any straightforward answers.
Facebook doesn't have an answer for all of it, but the company's position is that it's well-positioned to develop the right strategies for shutting down unlawful behavior on its platform. That was the gist of a statement provided to Mashable by a Facebook spokesperson on Sunday.
"We compete with encrypted messaging services around the world; and as encryption becomes more and more the industry standard, we remain the service best equipped to keep people safe," the statement reads. "We are devoting new teams, sophisticated technology and enormous resources toward the goal of building the most-safe, private space for people to connect."
Topics Cybersecurity Facebook Social Media
![Creator job opportunities grew 7x in recent years [April 2025]](http://n.sinaimg.cn/translate/w800h490/20180311/LZLM-fxpwyhw9849774.jpg?zdy)
Creator job opportunities grew 7x in recent years [April 2025]
India's only openly gay prince to build an LGBTQ center at his palace
Schlage Smart Deadbolt integrates Alexa, Siri, now Google Assistant
Skiin's 'smart' underwear takes fitness tracking to the next level
NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 23: Tips to solve Connections #212
Razer partners with Netflix to stream 'Stranger Things,' more in HDR
India's only openly gay prince to build an LGBTQ center at his palace
DeepFrame augmented reality window turns you into life
Dell S3422DWG Gaming Monitor deal: save $100 at Amazon
'The Boondocks' predicted a 2020 Oprah presidency in 2006
How to Squeeze the Most Out of Your iPhone's Battery
Uber and Bell Helicopter show off passenger drone concept at CES 2018
Snow falls on the usually quite hot Sahara Desert
Razer partners with Netflix to stream 'Stranger Things,' more in HDR
Is it 'Thunderbolts*' or *The New Avengers'?
Huawei Mate 10 Pro will launch in U.S. without wireless carrier
Why Katie Nolan joined ESPN and how she's growing the digital audience
Snapchat redesign updates in Canada, Australia, U.K., users are angry
Then and Now: Almost 10 Years of Intel CPUs Compared
Daughter relieves parents' stress by starting the sweetest dance party
Chromebooks with 4K displays could be on their wayShell foresaw Hurricane Sandy in prescient 1980s climate reportsChance the Rapper tweets idea for who should play Captain America nextSesame Place is world's first theme park designated as a Certified Autism CenterAt least 7 countries break monthly records as heat wave hits AsiaIndonesia threatens to block Facebook after privacy woesWatch Boeing refuel a huge military tanker midMark Zuckerberg denies talk of him resigning, adds nobody's perfectSpyro the dragon returns in 'Spyro Reignited Trilogy'Every store, restaurant, and retailer that has been hackedFacebook won't extend European data privacy protections globallyThe Russian Embassy trolls like Trump, but with better EnglishOnePlus 6 will come with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storageIntel launches monster Core i9 chip for laptopsSnapchat's YouTube shooting coverage buried by Kardashian snapsFounders of a DJ KhaledSesame Place is world's first theme park designated as a Certified Autism CenterAt least 7 countries break monthly records as heat wave hits AsiaMark Zuckerberg denies talk of him resigning, adds nobody's perfectMan's attempt to sit on friend's shoulders goes horribly, horribly wrong OnePlus 6 launch event announced for May 16 in London This major US city just took a big step to curb bike litter 'Black Mirror' has taken a part of London into the 1980s There's an 'Arrested Development' Easter egg in 'Avengers: Infinity War' Think of our pain: the "big story coming" tweet needs to end What's coming to Netflix in May: 'Coco' and more Everything you need to know about Gmail's massive redesign For your entertainment, a long list of the funniest yearbook quotes Review: Snap's new Spectacles are the boring update we needed 5 things Pinterest is doing to become more accessible for blind people All about GrayKey, the box cops are using to crack locked iPhones Tom Brokaw of NBC News accused by 2 women of inappropriate advances Referee apologises for missing handball, instantly becomes meme Scott Pruitt proposes EPA limit agency's use of scientific studies FreeTime for Alexa: Amazon's AI is getting a kid What Trump and Tim Cook could discuss in their meeting George R.R. Martin announces new book that isn't 'Winds of Winter' Download your Instagram data and delete your account Restaurant manager shows up at customer's house after leaving 3 Meghan Markle's character gets married in 'Suits' before her IRL wedding in May
2.3562s , 8225.8203125 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Women Without Innocence】,Defense Information Network