Supporting Survivors Through Tech-based Action: Protect Children has Analysed Over 3 Million Child Sexual Abuse Images, Leading to over 1.9 Million Takedown Requests
- Protect Children
- Aug 7
- 2 min read
NEWS
In our mission to end child sexual abuse in all its forms, we work within the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s Project Arachnid, a global initiative dedicated to detecting and removing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from every corner of the internet. Since joining the project in 2020, Protect Children has analysed over 3 million individual CSAM images, leading to over 1.95 million takedown requests to electronic service providers.
There is a child in every image.
In recent years, CSAM has become increasingly available and easy to access online, both on the dark and surface web. The WeProtect Global Alliance reports that CSAM can be found online in just 3 clicks.
To combat the increasing prevalence of CSAM online, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection launched the groundbreaking Project Arachnid in 2017. Project Arachnid leverages a variety of technologies to detect the internet for CSAM. A global network of analysts then classifies suspect images/videos detected by Project Arachnid. Analysts assess whether the material contains CSAM and harmful/abusive material involving children for the purpose of issuing takedown requests to electronic service providers. This work not only informs the understanding of CSAM’s online prevalence but also actively fights to remove it from the internet.
CSAM has devastating long-term impacts on victims. Victims and survivors in the Global Our Voice Survivor Survey report long-lasting negative consequences, such as depression, anxiety, or difficulty in trusting and forming relationships:
“I cannot go out, not even to the store in my neighbourhood, I always feel watched, as if something bad was going to happen, I am afraid of living.” — Anonymous survivor of a CSAM-related crime responding to the Global Our Voice Survivor Survey.
Despite these consequences, healing is possible. Removing CSAM from the internet stops the cycle of revictimisation and helps prevent further traumatisation, supporting victims and survivors on their healing journeys. Working within Project Arachnid can be incredibly difficult, but our analysts emphasise how knowing their work directly supports healing strengthens their resilience:
“This work is emotionally challenging, and some days can be especially heavy. But I am always proud to call myself a Protect Children analyst. This is, without a doubt, the most important and rewarding work I have ever done in my professional career. Even just contributing to the removal of one image can help prevent further abuse of a child and stop the revictimisation of survivors.” — Protect Children Analyst.
To date, over 3 million individual CSAM images have been analysed by Protect Children, leading to more than 1.95 million takedown requests issued to electronic service providers. Our analysts work contributes to supporting the healing of an untold number of victims by breaking the cycle of revictimisation and continues to make a significant difference in keeping the internet a safer space.
We sincerely congratulate our analysts on this incredible achievement and extend our deepest thanks to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection for allowing us to contribute to such a powerful project.
