Child Nudity: Facebook Removes Millions of User Shared Images

Social media behemoth Facebook Inc removed 8.7 million user images of child nudity during the last quarter with the help of software that automatically flags such photos. The company confirmed on Wednesday.

While speaking with Reuters, Facebook’s global head of safety Antigone Davis said that the “machine helps us prioritise” and “more efficiently queue” such content for the company’s trained team of reviewers.

Facebook is using the same software to identify child nudity images on its Instagram platform.

The social media giant has vowed to speed up the removal of illicit material after facing heat from regulators and lawmakers. Facebook used the machine learning tool as it crawls through the billions of pieces of content users post each day – and the tool delivered the results. It’s learnt that the company also bans family photos of lightly clothed children; keeping in mind how others might misuse such images.

“We’d rather err on the side of caution with children,” she said.

Prior to the new software, the company relied on users or its adult nudity filters to identify child images.

Chief Operating Officer at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Michelle DeLaune, said the organisation has received 10 million child porn tips from Facebook and other tech firms last year, and it expects to receive about 16 million this year, in a move to put an end to such heinous crime.

NCMEC said it is working hand in glove with Facebook to develop software – to decide which tips to assess first.