Some of the country’s biggest tech companies — Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter — have teamed up to “eradicate” child sexual abuse on the internet through a coalition.
What’s going on:
Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter announced they support the Technology Coalition, a group established in 2006 that looks to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse on the internet, according to CNBC.
UNICEF and other charities back the organization, providing funding and advice to various tech companies on how they can work to stop child sexual exploitation.
The Technology Coalition released five new goals for how it plans to stop the online abuse, including:
- Invest in tech to stop child sexual abuse material from appearing online.
- Hold an annual event for government and law enforcement to speak about issue.
- Fund research into trends around the subject.
- Create new systems so companies can share information and resources on threats around the world.
- Share new insights into the reporting of abuse.
The group said: “These priorities reflect our view that in this evolving fight, technological innovation and sharing best practices will continue to create the biggest impact in our work seeking to prevent and eradicate CSEA — especially when we combine our efforts and share our progress.”
How the U.S. handles online abuse
According to Reuters, U.S. lawmakers introduced the new “EARN IT Act,” which requires tech companies to follow best practices so they can earn legal immunity from any troubling content posted on the platform.