In recent years, livestreaming platforms have become increasingly popular, enabling users worldwide to broadcast real-time video and audio content. While these platforms facilitate interactive experiences such as gaming and music making, they also present challenges by allowing the dissemination of illegal content like child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) materials.
A new report authored by Robert Gorwa examines the measures that companies are implementing to safeguard these platforms against CSEA. It identifies three main strategies being used: design-based approaches, content analysis methods, and signal-based interventions.
Design-based approaches focus on preemptive measures such as requiring users to meet certain criteria before streaming. This includes having a minimum number of followers to prevent harmful actors from quickly creating accounts for malicious purposes.
Content analysis methods involve both manual and automated systems to detect illicit material during live broadcasts. Techniques include matching sample frames with known CSEA hashes or using machine learning classifiers for real-time detection.
Signal-based interventions utilize behavioral data from user accounts to identify suspicious activities across platforms. Sharing account metadata helps in recognizing bad actors who might migrate between different services.
The report highlights industry challenges in moderating livestreams due to the novelty of much of the content. An interviewee noted that firms should move towards a "predict and disrupt" model rather than just detecting and reporting harmful content.
However, these industry efforts raise concerns regarding transparency, effectiveness, security risks, privacy issues, free speech implications, and potential overmoderation of legitimate content. The report suggests improvements such as increasing transparency for better evaluation of CSEA prevention efforts and acknowledging the limitations of automated detection systems.
It also recommends empowering users through design interventions that provide tools for self-protection against CSEA targeting or distribution. Additionally, it calls for multistakeholder governance models involving various organizations to enhance accountability in addressing CSEA on livestreaming platforms.
Addressing CSEA is crucial given its impact on children and communities. The report emphasizes that while vendors strive to develop innovative solutions, poor implementation could undermine trust in platform safety over time. Greater understanding of current measures combined with enhanced multistakeholder engagement can improve trust systems while minimizing risks associated with livestreamed content.
