NEW REPORT: The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Online Child Safety Ecosystem: Perspectives from Platforms, NCMEC, and Law Enforcement on the CyberTipline and How to Improve It

What can policymakers do to address AI-generated child abuse images? @riana.bsky.social authored a new must-read @lawfare.bsky.social white paper.

A new investigation by SIO Chief Technologist David Thiel (@det.bsky.social) found more than 1,000 instances of externally validated child sexual abuse material in a dataset used to train popular AI image generation models.

We are excited to launch a grant funding program for researchers studying trust and safety issues outside of the North American or Western European context. Have an idea? Applications are due January 30, 2024.

Thanks to all who made the second annual Trust and Safety Research Conference a huge success! 🎟️ SOLD OUT with nearly 500 attendees 🔬 27 sessions spanning research on AI, content moderation, and mental health 📕 10 new Journal of Online Trust and Safety articles 🍻 Great food, drink, and community

Billions of people use encryption to protect their online data, payments, and communications. Riana Pfefferkorn and ISOC's Callum Voge argue that online safety regulations can protect people without targeting encryption. @riana.bsky.social @internetsociety.bsky.social

Happening now! 🖥️

You're on Bluesky, so you know social media is increasingly decentralized. With opportunity and growth, unfortunately, comes abuse. Our new primer offers tips for addressing unique safety challenges in decentralized spaces. By @stamos.org & @sarashah19.bsky.social 🔬📕

A new issue of the Journal of Online Trust and Safety is hot off the cloud servers with research on privacy, deepfakes, crowdsourced fact checking, and what influences online searches. 📕 🔬 🌐

Shelby Grossman joined the Tech Policy Press podcast to discuss research finding that current AI tools can generate persuasive propaganda articles. @shelbygrossman.bsky.social / @techpolicypress.bsky.social

Alex Stamos (@stamos.bsky.social) tells the New York Times it is possible for Apple to do more in the fight against child sexual exploitation while balancing privacy and safety.

YouTube rabbit holes are rare, but SIO scholar Ronald Robertson finds the platform can still help alternative and extremist channels build audiences. cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/io/news/stud...

A new report about child safety and decentralized social media. It's mostly about the Fediverse (see https://hachyderm.io/@det/110769470058276368 for discussion), but some of it applies to the Bluesky / ATproto ecosystem as well.