Tech Coalition Releases Voluntary Industry Framework for Transparency Reporting

The 27 leading technology companies that make up the membership of the Tech Coalition will consider adopting the Voluntary Industry Framework for Transparency Reporting, which was released at the WeProtect Global Alliance Summit in Brussels last week, in order to address child sexual exploitation and abuse online. All members—which include Google, Meta, Roblox, Snap Inc. and TikTok—are encouraged to use the framework, which the Tech Coalition said will be the first of its kind and tailored to the specific needs of each platform, marking a new industry push to tackle child exploitative materials at a time when these materials are becoming increasingly prevalent. The goal of the framework is to help companies develop reporting to explain the specific actions they have taken to address attempts to violate their policies prohibiting online child sexual exploitation and abuse, to provide critical insights on specific threats and trends and to create opportunities for individual companies to identify potential improvements that will further reduce the prevalence and harm of child exploitation. The Tech Coalition worked closely with WeProtect Global Alliance to ensure that input and feedback from its members across governments, civil society and the private sector were integrated into the development of the framework, and it anticipates that the framework will sit alongside emerging and existing regulatory reporting requirements in many jurisdictions. The organization said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S. processes an average of 60,000 reports of child sexual abuse online every day, adding that the European Union revealed legislation in early May to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online. Meta vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis said in a statement, “When the industry came together to launch the Tech Coalition’s Project Protect, we made a commitment to increased transparency to drive progress in the fight against child exploitation online. The Tech Coalition’s Voluntary Framework for Industry Transparency delivers on that promise, and Meta could not be prouder to support this effort. Meta prioritizes transparency and cross-industry collaboration, and we hope this framework will be adopted by other companies to create a baseline from which we can all continue to fight this harm together.” Microsoft chief digital safety officer Courtney Gregoire added, “Microsoft has been pleased to support the Tech Coalition’s effort to develop this framework. Transparency reporting plays a vital role building trust in, and accountability for, companies’ efforts to combat the very real harm of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. By taking a principled approach and differentiating between services, the framework will provide a valuable guide for companies across industry to develop and mature their transparency reporting. We hope to see a range of companies develop reporting for the first time and to take advantage of the mentoring that the Tech Coalition and its members can offer.” And Tech Coalition executive director Sean Litton said, “When we launched Project Protect, our members pledged to increase transparency and accountability in their efforts to combat online sexual exploitation and abuse of children, and this framework is a critical step in seeing those efforts through. Transparency is imperative to both our understanding of how sexual exploitation and abuse is manifested online and to driving effective measures to combat it. I am proud of the work our industry members have put into the creation of this framework, and grateful to the industry, civil society and government leaders whose feedback was crucial to its development. I continue to be inspired by industry's commitment to combating the sexual exploitation and abuse of children online and look forward to supporting them in their efforts as leader of this coalition.”

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Tech Coalition Releases Voluntary Industry Framework for Transparency Reporting

Its 27 leading technology company members will consider using it to fight child sexual exploitation and abuse online

David Cohen

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David Cohen