Facebook, Google, and Microsoft announce industry initiative to combat online child sexual abuse
What you need to know
- Facebook is joining Google, Microsoft, and 15 other tech companies to fight child sexual abuse online.
- The new initiative is called Project Protect.
- It has five key focus areas to help protect kids online.
Facebook has today announced it is joining Google and Microsoft, along with 15 other tech companies in a renewed fight to combat online child sexual abuse.
In a blog post today, Antigone Davis, Facebook's Global Head of Safety said:
The new initiative, Project Protect, will focus on five key areas. They are:
- Tech innovation
- Collective Action
- Independent Research
- Information and Knowledge Sharing
- Transparency and Accountability
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said:
Through its five key focus areas, the group hopes to do several things, notably "accelerating the development and usage of groundbreaking technology to support the cross-industry approach powered by a multi-million dollar innovation fund", as well as convening tech companies alongside local governments and civil society, creating "a holistic approach to tackle this issue."
Independent Research will be funded with the 'End Violence Against Children Partnership' to further collective understanding about experiences and patterns of child exploitation and online abuse. The push for more transparency and accountability will be done in partnership with WePROTECT Global Alliance.
You can read the full announcement here.
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Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9