In a first-of-its-kind event, Safe Online and Tech Coalition, in partnership with Google, are bringing independent researchers together with industry professionals working in product, policy, trust and safety to build and deepen a shared understanding for online child safety. It will delve into highly impactful and innovative research on various challenges to combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).
The event will be held in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, 27th September and will kick off with a public panel which will be open to wide participation virtually.
The panel will be made up of industry members, independent experts and researchers working to combat online CSEA. To join the public panel, register here.
The public event will be followed by an invite-only, day-long technical workshop for Tech Coalition industry members and Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund grantees.
13 grantees will participate to share key findings from their research projects, sharing unique insights on a range of topics including on offending behaviours and trends such as grooming, deterrence and help-seeking interventions, support systems for victims, parents, content moderators, legal systems, and more. For more on the grantees participating see 2021 grantee profiles and 2022 grantee profiles.
“The Tech Coalition is proud to partner with Safe Online on the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund. This important effort delivers pioneering and urgent research to solve the challenges industry can often face in the fight against online child sexual exploitation and abuse,” said Kay Chau, Director of Programs, the Tech Coalition. “This important partnership connects a coalition of tech companies with independent researchers to build digital platforms and services that are safe for all users and especially for the most vulnerable – children and young people. As we enter the fourth year of the Research Fund we are excited to see some of the incredible resources and impacts emerge from these collaborative efforts."
The event will give industry the opportunity to dig deeper into research insights on tackling digital harms to children and to feed into research at a key moment in the project. The objective is to ensure that research findings can positively impact industry products and services and provide industry better insights to better respond to some of the thorniest challenges on digital platforms.
Marija Manojlovic, Director Safe Online says, “We are excited to join hands with Tech Coalition and Google to host the first ever convening of our Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund grantees and industry experts. This is an opportunity to bring innovative research by our grantees into the ‘real world’ where it can be effectively applied to tackling digital harms against children, especially to tackle online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.”
The event will be followed by Safe Online participation at the Stanford Trust & Safety Research Conference 28-29 September.
Safe Online will be hosting a lunch session on Friday, 29th September: Industry <> Researcher Collaboration: Sharing insights from the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund. In this session, Safe Online will share the unique way companies and independent researchers engage through the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund as well as insights and impact from the independent research to date.
Learn more about Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund.
Image: © UNICEF/UNI329272/Engelberth VII Photo