Issue 13 | October 2023

This update links to some of the most significant initiatives happening in the online safety space from around the world. Some of the topics include:

We consider how online safety could become an ally of techno-optimists instead of an enemy
INHOPE identifies a new category of sites it defines as Child Abuse Pyramids
Garbo shuts down its consumer background checking service used by the Match.com group
A new game puts you in charge of a moderation team

Moving from Enemies of the

Techno-Optimists to Allies

Marc Andreessen of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz referred to trust and safety as the enemy in The Techno-Optimists Manifesto. This was met with frustration by the online safety community, most of whom promote a safety-first approach to technology development as simultaneously good for society, and profitability.

It's easy to dismiss the manifesto, or to embrace the idea that Andreessen simply doesn’t understand modern online safety. But if Andreessen feels that way, it's safe to assume others in his position will also – which is a problem for online safety. We consider if there is any truth in the enemy statement, and if there is, how could the online safety industry become allies.

Read the full article

Emerging

The Repressive Power of AI

Freedom House notes Artificial Intelligence is threatening to supercharge disinformation as internet freedom declines for the thirteenth straight year.

Deepfakes, Distrust and Porn

Analysis of the two primary deepfakes communities finds technical discussions coexisting with non-consensual deepfake pornography.

Child Abuse Pyramid Sites

INHOPE data analysis has identified a growing category of sites with a unique reward system for sharing links - which function like traditional pyramid schemes.

Research

NCA

A National Cybersecurity Alliance Study shows people from Generation Z (born in the late 1990s and early 2000s) are more likely to fall for internet scams than Baby Boomers.

University of Sydney

This participatory research delved into key and emerging issues for young people (12-17yrs) and underpinned a co-design process for education resources.

CRC

A Cyberbullying Research Centre survey finds 26.5% of 13- to 17-year-old middle and high school student said they had experienced cyberbullying within the past 30 days.

Regulation Roundup

China

New Cyberspace Protection Regulations for minors are introduced increasing responsibilities for internet and tech firms, authorities, and schools.

Australia

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner issued X (Twitter) a $610,500 AUD infringement notice for failing to respond to questions about its child protection processes.

Sri Lanka

The UN Human Rights Office, International Commission of Jurists, and International Federation of Journalists express concerns over the Online Safety Bill.

Nigeria

Amendments to extend the National Broadcasting Commission Act coverage to apply to social media have been introduced.

USA

Arguments for and against the Kids Online Safety Act mount. Attorney Generals file a lawsuit against Meta and the President issues an Executive Order for Trustworthy AI.

UK

First published in draft form on 12 May 2021, the Online Safety Act designed to make the UK the safest place to be online passes into law amid continued opposition from tech.

Tech Industry

Reviews Coalition

Booking,com, Expedia Group, Tripadvisor, Amazon, Glassdoor, and Trustpilot form a coalition agreeing to align standards and share best practice and engage with academics and policy leaders to fight fake reviews.

Service Closing

Garbo, who provided consumer background checking services for the Match Group have shut down the service citing continuous harassment, access to information issues, and a lack of support from online platforms.

Monitoring TVEC

GIFCT activated the Incident level of their Incident Response Framework, providing regular situational awareness across member companies and support in addressing content relating to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Play Trust and Safety Tycoon

This new game from the team that created Moderator Mayhem explores the difficult choices and tradeoffs involved in managing a trust and safety team. The game puts you in charge of the moderation team at a new social media company (Yapper) and players can see how decisions impact various aspects of the business including team morale, ad revenue, user growth and conversation health.

Podcasts

Tech Policy Press

Two of the authors of the Freedom on the Net report, Allie Funk and Kian Vesteinsson discuss the findings with Justin Hendrix at Tech Policy Press.

Generation K

Amber Hawkes of Pearl Consulting talks to Generation K about the challenges for tech companies protecting children on their platforms.

CounterCloud

This ten minute video explains how two people built an automated disinformation machine for $800 using AI - and advises how to defend against future versions.

Expert Analysis and Opinions

Gabby Miller of the Tech Policy Press evaluates the arguments over the California Age Appropriate Design Code Act.
R-Street's Adam Thierer opinions that the White House Executive Order threatens to put AI in a cage, whilst Brandon Pugh and Amy Chang consider its cybersecurity implications.
Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant writes that Tech companies must do more and do better if we are to stem the tide of online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Join and Contribute

The Online Safety Exchange (OSX) develops products and services to serve and support the online safety community - and works with international experts to achieve this. If you would like to contribute of feature something in the Online Safety Industry Update, please email us on news@onlinesafetyexchange.org

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