The ‘Take It Down’ tool has been introduced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the primary child protection organization in the United States. It enables users to eliminate sexually explicit pictures of minors from the internet.
“Having explicit content online can be scary and very traumatising, especially for young people. The adage of ‘you can’t take back what is already out there’ is something we want to change. We cannot go back and change what happened, but we can help you move forward,” said Gavin Portnoy, Vice President, Communications and Brand, NCMEC.
Here is all you need to know about ‘Take It Down’:
(1.) Available to users from around the world, Take It Down allows people to submit a report that can help remove any sexually explicit element that depicts an individual aged below 18.
(2.) A free service, it works by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a ‘hash value.’ When a tech company signs up for this facility, it is given hash values to detect and take down such an imagery from their public or unencrypted sites and apps.
(3.) While using this tool, a user can remain anonymous, and will not have to send their images or videos to anyone.
(4.) Meta provided initial funding for the software, which was announced in December last year. Also, it will integrate Take It Down to its platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
(5.) Since the software’s launch, around 200 reports have been submitted. Besides Meta, other companies that are using this service are MG Freesites (Pornhub, Mindgeek), OnlyFans, and Yubo.
