Today (Monday 13th November), SWGfL are attending a roundtable event at the White House in Washington DC, discussing ‘AI Safety & Solutions for Image-Based Sexual Abuse’ whilst highlighting StopNCII.org and the prevention of non-consensual intimate image sharing (NCII) online. This roundtable follows the highly publicised speech that Kamala Harris (US Vice President) delivered about the future of artificial intelligence, as well as the UK Global Safety AI summit in which concerns around NCII were discussed.
Today, David Wright (CEO of SWGfL) joins leading representatives from industry, government, civil society and academia to discuss the risks and opportunities of generative AI for preventing and addressing image-based sexual abuse.
Snap Inc. Joins StopNCII.org
For World Kindness Day, we are also pleased to announce that Snap Inc. have joined StopNCII.org as an industry partner, helping them prevent the non-consensual sharing of intimate images across their platform using the StopNCII.org hash database. Snap Inc. join Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, OnlyFans, Reddit, Bumble Inc., Aylo and Threads as partner platforms.
New research from Snap Inc. showed that ‘’54% of young adults, aged 18 to 24 encountered intimate online imagery earlier this year, and more than a third (35%) were asked to share sexual photos or videos online. Nearly half (47%) said they received unwanted sexual imagery, and 16% admitted to sharing such content.’’
This new partnership will continue to help detect and remove intimate content that has been shared online without consent, joining our growing list of industry partners who are part of the StopNCII.org initiative.
David Wright, CEO of SWGfL said:
We're pleased to have Snap join us at StopNCII in combating the online sharing of non-consensual intimate images. Since our launch in December 2021, we've empowered victims to regain control and alleviate their fears. Our success depends on collaborations with platforms like Snap, as more participation directly leads to less fear for victims globally.
Jacqueline Beauchere, Global Head of Platform Safety, Snap Inc, said:
Snap is honored to join StopNCII in helping to curb the online spread of violating material and support victims as they reclaim control over their most private and personal data. And, what better time than on World Kindness Day when we can all lead with respect, empathy, and compassion in all of our interactions, both online and off.
StopNCII.org
StopNCII.org empowers users to take control of their intimate content by using on-device hashing technology. This ground-breaking process creates a hash (digital fingerprint) of images or videos (presented as a string of letters and numbers) that can be created straight from the user’s own device. This added layer of privacy ensures the original image or video never leaves the user’s device.
The hash is then sent to participating platforms and if a subsequent image or video gets uploaded and matches the corresponding hash, it will be sent for moderation and removed if it meets the policy requirements of a platform. The image (or video) will then be blocked from any further sharing across participating platforms.
As with all hashing databases, this newly created directory increases in efficacy as more platforms join the StopNCII.org initiative. StopNCII.org has an open invitation for legal, industry platforms who allow users to upload content to make use of the tool’s groundbreaking technology, by joining as an industry partner. With this collective effort, it will work towards making the internet a safer place.
