It’s a nightmarish reality happening at an alarming rate: a child is being sexually abused – and evidence of this abuse has spread across the internet like wildfire. This abuse material is traumatic, toxic, illegal and definitely NOT pornography.
Is it porn?
Child sexual exploitation material (CSAM), is legally known as child pornography in the United States and refers to any content depicting sexually explicit activity involving a child. Visual representations include photographs, videos, live streams, and digital or computer-generated images, including AI-generated content, indistinguishable from an actual minor.
CSAM better describes the reality of this crime, rather than the legal term child pornography. Pornography involves consent, that a child can never give. CSAM is the documentation of violent and horrific rape of children, often when they are prepubescent and even non-verbal.
It is therefore important that we use terminology that reflects the impact of this crime on its victims. Categorizing these images as “child pornography” is simply not enough. By labeling this abusive content as “child sexual abuse material”, our aim is to convey the terrible truth about these images.
How is abusive material shared?
The internet has made it too easy for abusers to share CSAM. Abusers create images and videos and then share them in online communities. These communities foster communication among offenders, who scramble for even more graphic and violent content and desensitize them to the physical and psychological harm inflicted on abused children. This content is then widely shared beyond the initial targets – recirculating the image on the Internet as viral wildfireperpetuating the abuse and victimizing the child multiple times.
When a child takes their own “nudes”, this is called self-generated CSAM (SG-CSAM) and children may unwittingly contribute to the circulation of material if they send nudes to each other and it escapes that trusting relationship, or an abuser who nursed them.
Over 32 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation are received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) annually. Each report often contains several images and/or videos of abuse – when there were 32 million reportsthere were 88 million files reported. There is a child behind each of these files.
How can I help survivors?
If you or someone you know has been a victim of child sexual abuse, know that you are not alone. Here are some of the organizations working to provide resources for survivors:
- NCMECTake It Down is a free service that can help you remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of you when you were under 18. You can remain anonymous while using the service and you won’t have to send your images or videos to anyone.
- RAINNThe National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential, available 24/7. Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) or use the live chat feature.
- brave move is a global survivor-centered movement fighting to end childhood sexual abuse. Brave Movement demands bold and transformative action from world leaders and runs a number of active campaigns for change.
- Canadian Center for Child Protection (C3P) is dedicated to working with survivors to bring about change that will create a safer world for children.
- in hope is a global network of 50 member hotlines to fight CSAM online. They also promote the development of laws and policies.
What is Thor doing to resolve this issue?
Thorn equips technology platforms with the innovative tools, information, and connections needed to end the spread of abusive content and stop revictimization. Our business tool Safer is designed to help technology companies detect, investigate, and report large-scale abuse images.
In addition, our prevention programs like Thorn for parents help equip parents with the skills and resources to have meaningful, productive, non-judgmental conversations to prevent abuse. NoFilter is a youth-focused prevention program that aims to educate young people about the risks of sharing nudes online, change toxic attitudes that shame victims, and provide the knowledge and tools they need to resist online threats.
Together we can fight child sexual abuse and create a better future where every child is free to just be a child.
