Home Secretary has today told social media companies that they must
take our children’s safety as seriously as they do their bottom
line at a meeting of the G7 interior ministers.
She also called on G7 partners to back the UK approach in holding
the internet technology giants to account if harmful content
continues to be posted across their platforms and if they neglect
public safety when designing their products.
Her call to action comes as she launches a new fund aimed at
tackling child sexual abuse online.
Innovators and tech experts will be given government funding to
show the internet technology giants how they can better design
their products and not increase the risk of their platform’s
being a safe haven for child sexual abusers.
The UK’s new Safety Tech Challenge Fund will award five
organisations from across the world up to £85,000 each to develop
innovative technologies to keep children safe when using
end-to-end encrypted messaging services.
Home Secretary said:
The UK is a world leader in tackling child sexual abuse online,
and it is vital that the G7 and technology companies alike step
up to protect children and victims from sick perpetrators and
crack down on this abhorrent crime.
The technology giants have a responsibility to protect their
users online, and must take our children’s safety and security as
seriously as they do their bottom line when designing new
products.
This new fund will bring together global experts to show the
technology companies how they can responsibly implement
end-to-end encryption without putting our children’s safety at
greater risk.
Minister for Digital and Culture said:
We are bringing in world-leading laws to make the internet safer
for everyone in the UK, especially children. But we also want to
see tech firms innovating to make their platforms safer too.
Through this fund, we are supporting them to create practical
solutions to the challenges around end-to-end encryption which
balance privacy with the pressing need to end safe spaces for
child abuse online.
Companies awarded Tech Challenge funding will develop innovative
solutions to show the silicon valley giants how they could
continue to detect images or videos showing sexual abuse of
children while ensuring end-to-end encryption is not compromised.
The fund, which will run for five months from November 2021, is
part of the government’s wider effort to tackle harmful
behaviours taking place on social media and other online
platforms.
The announcement comes as the Home Secretary meets with her G7
counterparts over the next two days, with tackling child sexual
exploitation, and internet safety and security, dominating the
agenda on day one.
Interior ministers will look at how the G7 can work together to
keep their citizens safe online and the bring the sick
perpetrators of child sexual abuse and exploitation to justice.
John Clark, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
(NCMEC) President & CEO:
The NCMEC applauds the launch of the UK’s Safety Tech Challenge
Fund. Last year we received more than 21 million reports relating
to child sexual exploitation, and the numbers of reports this
year are likely to be even higher.
The Safety Tech Challenge will be crucial to enabling the tech
industry, academic experts, non-profits, and government agencies
to collaborate together on global solutions to keep children
safer online without compromising consumer privacy.
Time is of the essence to develop safety measures that can
operate in encrypted environments to protect children, whose
images are being circulated online.
Julie Inman Grant, Australian e-safety Commissioner:
As a global community we must strive to take every step we can to
combat the scourge of online child sexual exploitation and abuse,
wherever it is found.
Encryption is a many-layered, complex issue that requires
detailed consideration and thoughtful review in order to minimise
the potential for harm and ensure that a suitable balance is
struck between security, privacy and safety.
There are promising technological breakthroughs that can surface
illegal content in E2EE environments without sacrificing user
privacy, and we must harness the possibilities that they offer in
a unified and integrated way.
We look forward to seeing the outcomes of the UK’s safety tech
challenge investment fund and working in collaboration with our
partners to ensure that effective solutions are able to be
implemented and adopted globally.
Technologies developed will be evaluated by independent academic
experts to measure effectiveness and privacy safeguards.
Applications for funding will open to applicants globally from 8
September 2021, and close on 6 October 2021.
For more information on the fund, please visit: www.safetytechnetwork.org.uk/innovation-challenges
