{"id":14372,"date":"2023-02-06T05:55:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=14372"},"modified":"2023-02-07T06:01:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T14:01:01","slug":"musk-pledged-to-cleanse-twitter-of-child-abuse-content-its-been-rough-going-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=14372","title":{"rendered":"“Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It\u2019s Been Rough Going”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Michael H. Keller<\/span> and Kate Conger,\u00a0<\/span>Feb. 6, 2023<\/p>\n

Child sexual abuse imagery spreads on Twitter even after the company is notified: One video drew 120,000 views. \u201cSewer rats,\u201d<\/a> as one regulator described bad actors, remain.<\/p>\n

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In the months since Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter, even the most easily detected child sexual abuse material has persisted on the platform.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Jason Henry for The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Over 120,000 views of a video showing a boy being sexually assaulted. A recommendation engine suggesting that a user follow content related to exploited children. Users continually posting abusive material, delays in taking it down when it is detected and friction with organizations that police it.<\/p>\n

All since Elon Musk declared that\u00a0\u201cremoving child exploitation is priority #1\u201d in a\u00a0tweet<\/a>\u00a0in late November.<\/p>\n

Under Mr. Musk\u2019s ownership, Twitter\u2019s head of safety, Ella Irwin, said she had been moving rapidly to combat child sexual abuse material, which was prevalent on the site \u2014 as it is on most tech platforms<\/a> \u2014 under the previous owners. \u201cTwitter 2.0\u201d will be different, the company promised.<\/p>\n

But a review by The New York Times found that the imagery, commonly known as child pornography, persisted on the platform, including widely circulated material that the authorities consider the easiest to detect and eliminate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After Mr. Musk took the\u00a0reins in late October, Twitter\u00a0largely eliminated or lost staff experienced with the problem and\u00a0failed to prevent the spread of abusive images previously identified by the authorities, the review shows. Twitter also stopped paying for some detection software considered key to its efforts.<\/p>\n

All the while, people on dark-web forums discuss how Twitter remains a platform where they can easily find the material while avoiding detection, according to transcripts of those forums from an anti-abuse group that monitors them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you let sewer rats in,\u201d said Julie Inman Grant, Australia\u2019s online safety commissioner, \u201cyou know that pestilence is going to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n