By Christian George
Meta has signed to integrate take-it-down tool on its platforms.
Take-it-down is a tool which allows users to anonymously report and remove nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos of underage individuals found on participating platforms and block the offending content from being shared again.
This is in line with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s announcement of driving to remove sexually explicit images of minors from the internet.
Meta revealed in a blog post that it had provided initial funding to create the NCMEC’s free-to-use “Take It Down” tool.
According to The Verge, take It down is designed for minors to self-report images and videos of themselves; however, adults who appeared in such content when they were under the age of 18 can also use the service to report and remove it. Parents or other trusted adults can make a report on behalf of a child, too.
However, users must have the reported image or video on their device to use the service.
Report has it that the content is used to generate a hash value, a unique digital fingerprint assigned to each image and video that can then be provided to participating platforms to detect and remove it across their websites and apps, while minimizing the number of people who see the actual content.
The president and CEO of NCMEC said “we created this system because many children are facing these desperate situations. Our hope is that children become aware of this service, and they feel a sense of relief that tools exist to help take the images down. NCMEC is here to help.”
Take-it-down tool is related to StopNCII, a service launched in 2021, though for adults which uses hash values to detect and remove explicit content across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Bumble.
