WASHINGTON, DC (April 10, 2024) – Three of the world’s wealthiest companies have been named to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s (NCOSE) 2024 Dirty Dozen List of mainstream contributors to sexual abuse and exploitation.
“Apple, Meta, and Microsoft are among the most powerful and profitable companies globally. Unfortunately, their products and policies are also undoubtedly fueling the child sexual abuse crisis and enabling the proliferation of image-based sexual abuse. While all companies should ensure the safety of its users, these billion-dollar titans have an even greater responsibility to do so. Yet instead of dedicating the necessary resources to prevent exploitation of both children and adults, they are prioritizing profit and engaging in an AI arms race,” said Lina Nealon, Vice President and Director of Corporate Advocacy, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“Apple, Meta, and Microsoft have all set dangerous precedents that further sexual abuse and exploitation. Apple refuses to detect child sexual abuse material on iCloud or to protect teens. Meta’s ‘Family of Apps’ – especially Instagram – have been well-established as primary places for a host of crimes and ills. But rather than sufficiently addressing these abuses, Meta made the move to enact end-to-end encryption – effectively blinding itself to the most egregious harms on its platforms. And Microsoft’s GitHub – though not as well-known – is the source for the vast majority of deepfake pornography that is so rapidly proliferating.”
Other corporations added to the 2024 Dirty Dozen List for facilitating multiple forms of sexual abuse and exploitation include: Cash App, Cloudflare, Discord, LinkedIn, Reddit, Roblox, Spotify, and Telegram. Snapchat was placed on NCOSE’s 2024 Dirty Dozen Watchlist, which is reserved for entities previously on the Dirty Dozen List that have made significant changes, but that NCOSE deems must still be closely monitored.
“The targets were chosen for various (though often overlapping and multiple) reasons. Some corporations, including peer-to-peer payment service Cash App and internet service network Cloudflare, provide the infrastructure for criminal activities like sex trafficking, prostitution, and CSAM-trading. Others like Discord, Reddit, and Telegram are preferred platforms for predators to obtain, post, and trade child sexual abuse content and image-based sexual abuse of adults, and are hotspots for creating and disseminating AI-generated deepfake pornography. Roblox, with a user base that consists primarily of children, refuses to implement basic safety measures, thereby exposing kids to predators, rape-themed ‘games,’ and age-inappropriate content like sex parties. Several of the platforms, including Spotify, expose children to hardcore pornography and predators. Even LinkedIn, the professional networking site, is guilty of failing to stop rampant sexual harassment against women and is legitimizing Pornhub and other exploitative enterprises,” Nealon said.
“The tech industry has tragically metastasized into a thriving ecosystem of sexual exploitation – with predators often using multiple platforms at a time to prey on their victims and more easily hide their activities. Each platform’s unique design enables pedophiles, sex traffickers, and other exploiters to conduct criminal or harmful activities. Each platform has vulnerabilities or a corporate lack of interest in solving these challenges and stemming abuse.”
This year’s List also features a “wild card” entity. “Though not a corporation, we placed the Communications Decency Act Section 230 on the List as ‘The Greatest Enabler of Online Sexual Exploitation.’ Misinterpretations of this 1996 law have granted immunity to tech companies for the sexual abuse and exploitation occurring on their platforms. Congress needs to immediately clarify the intent of this law so tech companies could finally be held liable for the rampant abuses they enable,” Nealon explained.
The entities on the 2024 Dirty Dozen List are hereby put on notice that sexual exploitation and abuse cannot continue to be fostered by their platforms and policies. “We encourage the public to press on these companies and on policymakers to make the necessary changes with the urgency these harms require. Human dignity must not come at the cost of another dollar,” Nealon said.
This is the full 2024 Dirty Dozen List:
Apple
Apple’s record is rotten when it comes to child protection. This Big Tech titan refuses to detect child sex abuse material, hosts dangerous apps with deceptive age ratings and descriptions, and won’t default safety features for teens.
Cash App
“Do more with your money” shouldn’t apply to buying sex and paying for abusive content. This peer-to-peer payment app appeals to pimps, predators, and pedophiles looking for a covert way to conduct criminal activity.
CDA 230
The Greatest Enabler of Online Sexual Exploitation. Misinterpretations of Communications Decency Act Section 230 grant Big Tech blanket immunity for any and all types of sexual abuse and exploitation they facilitate. Until we amend CDA 230, corporations can’t be held accountable!
Cloudflare
Providing a platform for sex buyers, traffickers, and deepfakers. Cloudflare says it wants to build a better internet. So why does it provide services to some of the most prolific prostitution forums and deepfake pornography sites?
Discord
Discord’s a hotspot for dangerous interactions and deepfakes. This platform is popular with predators seeking to groom kids and with creeps looking to create, trade, or find sexually abusive content of children and unsuspecting adults.
LinkedIn
The world’s largest professional network is an amateur when it comes to stemming sexual exploitation. LinkedIn legitimizes Pornhub and other exploitative enterprises by providing them a platform, overlooks users promoting deepfake pornography tools, and fails to stop rampant sexual harassment against women.
Meta
“Moving fast” and making money at all costs means children pay the price. Meta’s launch of end-to-end encryption, open-sourced Al, and virtual reality are unleashing new worlds of exploitation, while its platforms – like Instagram – continue to rank among the most dangerous for kids.
Microsoft’s GitHub
Microsoft’s GitHub is the global hub for creating sexually exploitative AI tech. The vast majority of deepfakes, “nudify” apps, and AI-generated child sex abuse content originate on this platform owned by the world’s richest company. #deepfakehub
Reddit
Reddit is riddled with sexploitation. Child sex abuse material, sex trafficking, and image-based sexual abuse hide in plain sight among endless pornography subreddits allowed on this platform…content which will be further monetized now that Reddit is public.
Roblox
Roblox treats child protection like a game. Among the avatars, blocks, and buildings, kids are exposed to predators, rape-themed games, and age-inappropriate content like sex parties.
Spotify
“Music Porn for everyone.” Sexually explicit images, sadistic content, and networks trading child sex abuse material on its platform prove Spotify is out of tune with basic child safety measures and moderation practices.
Telegram
Known as the “dark web alternative,” Telegram unleashes a new era of exploitation. Messaging app Telegram serves as a safe haven for criminal communities across the globe. Sexual torture rings, sextortion gangs, deepfake bots, and more all thrive on an alarming scale.
Watchlist: Snapchat
Where a child’s life can change forever in a snap. Content on Snapchat may be fleeting, but the impact of sextortion, grooming, and child sex abuse can last a lifetime. This app is dangerous by its very design.
Over the past decade, the Dirty Dozen List Campaign has instigated major policy changes at Google, TikTok, Comcast, Delta Airlines, Amazon, the Department of Defense, and many other influential institutions. Additional information can be found at www.DirtyDozenList.com.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography. https://endsexualexploitation.org/.
