Google and X lag peers in addressing non-consensual explicit images, lawmakers say
CNN
Google, X and Discord and other tech giants could be doing more to address non-consensual explicit images online, according to a letter from a group of US senators.
Google, X and Discord are among a group of tech giants that could be doing more to address the rising threat of non-consensual explicit images online, according to a letter that a group of senators sent to the companies Friday. The letter criticizes nearly a dozen tech firms for their lack of participation in two programs that make it easier for people to request the removal of non-consensual explicit images and videos from the internet. The programs are voluntary, but they already count other internet giants, such as Meta, Snap, TikTok and PornHub as participants. And the letter comes as both lawmakers and tech leaders face pressure to do more to combat non-consensual sexual images, sometimes known as revenge porn, especially as artificial intelligence makes it easier to create and spread such content. This year alone, women around the world were targeted by AI-generated pornographic images, ranging from popstar Taylor Swift to high school girls. And while nine US states currently have laws against the creation or sharing of non-consensual deepfake images, none exist on the federal level — limiting the options for victims of this form of harassment who wish to seek help or accountability. Friday’s letter, shared exclusively with CNN, is addressed to the chief executives of 11 tech companies: X, Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Match, Zoom, Pinterest, Discord, OpenAI, Twitch, Microsoft and Patreon. It urges them to join the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “Take it Down” program, which helps people remove nude or sexually explicit images or videos of children from online platforms, as well as the Revenge Porn Helpline’s “StopNCII” initiative, which helps adults remove explicit images that were shared online without their consent. Both programs let users create a unique numerical code for an image they want to remove, which participating platforms can then easily use to search their sites and remove the image.
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