Thorn Looks to Eliminate Child Sexual Abuse Material from the Internet

Thorn is one of eight organizations to share in over $280 million of funding through The Audacious Project, housed at TED. Each year, The Audacious Project identifies and invests in global changemakers with the biggest, boldest, and most actionable ideas with the potential to affect millions of lives. The Audacious Project brings together some of the most respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy — the Skoll Foundation, Virgin Unite, Dalio Foundation and more.

 “The Internet has created an opportunity for mass distribution of images and videos of child sexual abuse, and the majority are very young children, often under 12,” said Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Thorn. "This extraordinary amount of funding towards the elimination of child sexual abuse material from the internet illustrates that investors and donors recognize this is a rapidly growing and dangerous issue that must be addressed."

“The volume of child sexual abuse material on the Internet and the size of the population participating – has skyrocketed. Since 2004, there has been a 10,000% increase in sexual abuse files reported by technology companies,” said Thorn CEO Julie Cordua.  “Unfortunately, child abuse content likely exists on the majority of platforms that accept user-generated content. To date there have been limited solutions offered to small and mid-sized companies to address this specific problem, making their platforms vulnerable to abusive content and behavior. Our product Safer provides a solution to help companies ensure their platforms are not enabling the viral spread of this abuse content.”

The sexual abuse of children is a human problem, but the explosion in the online distribution of child sexual abuse imagery is a technology problem that demands a technology-led response. Over the last seven years Thorn has worked at the intersection of technology and child sexual abuse to build the tools necessary to fight this abuse in the digital age.  

As part of this initiative to eliminate child sexual abuse material from the Internet, Thorn will:

• Provide front-line law enforcement around the world with the technology and data they need to find victims faster, stop perpetrators, and reduce the amount of abuse material produced.
• Continue to build and scale the software needed to help companies locate and remove child sexual abuse content from their platforms. Safer offers a low-cost, scalable tool required for swift review, removal, and reporting of child sexual abuse material, and aims to end its viral distribution.
• Drive data collaboration so that information is shared as widely and collaboratively as possible in the best interest of the child. Currently, much of the most important data sits in independent silos at government agencies around the world or within private companies. 
• Build out product teams and create the only research and development team that will be 100% dedicated to new technologies to combat online child sexual abuse. Thorn will aim to stay ahead of perpetrators and focus on advanced technologies that either pose a threat in this space or can be leveraged to stop this abuse. Initial research areas include live-streaming, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, which are already emerging in this field.
• Support and invest in critical global partnerships with front-line responders (law enforcement, industry, NGOs). Thorn’s success to date is due in part to the support of critical long-term supporters including Amazon Web Services, Google.org, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook. Thorn works closely with child protection organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), WeProtect, Canadian Center for Child Protection, InHope, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and others who have worked tirelessly against child sexual abuse for decades.

“The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is incredibly proud of our long-standing partnership with Thorn," said Michelle DeLaune from the NCMEC. “Our mutual goal is that survivors can take solace in knowing that imagery of their child sexual abuse has been eradicated from the internet.”

About Thorn

Thorn, co-founded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Thorn partners with nonprofits, law enforcement, and tech companies to understand the role technology plays in child sex trafficking, the creation and proliferation of child sexual abuse material and the normalization of child sexual exploitation. Thorn then goes beyond insight to action to develop the tools, systems and approaches to help address these issues. Thorn’s first software tool, Spotlight, is currently used by 9,000 law enforcement agents across all 50 US states and 35 countries. Thorn has also created a Technology Task Force — a group of more than 25 technology companies that collaborate on technology initiatives to fight child sexual exploitation. Participating companies include Amazon Web Services, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Microsoft, Memsql, SV Angel, Twitter, Expedia, Digital Reasoning, Pinterest and others.

For more information on Thorn, please visit http://www.thorn.org/, follow us on Twitter @THORN and facebook.com/wearethorn.

About the Audacious Project

The Audacious Project was launched in April 2018, with a mission to foster "collaborative philanthropy for bold ideas." Housed at TED (the nonprofit devoted to ideas worth spreading) and operated with support from The Bridgespan Group (which consults with nonprofits and investors to accelerate impact), The Audacious Project brings together some of the most respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy — the Skoll Foundation, Virgin Unite, Dalio Foundation and more. The Audacious Project surfaces and funds critical projects with the potential to create global change. By removing barriers associated with funding, The Audacious Project empowers social entrepreneurs to dream boldly and take on the world’s biggest and most urgent challenges. The 2019 projects include: Educate Girls, Institute for Protein Design at the UW School of Medicine, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, The Center for Policing Equity, The END Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Thorn and Waterford's UPSTART program.

Learn more or support an existing project at AudaciousProject.org.