THORN
Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children
California, United States of America · Founded 2012
https://www.thorn.orgHeadquarters location
Mission
To build technology to defend children from sexual abuse by empowering law enforcement to identify and rescue victims faster, stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and protect children from online sexual exploitation.
Current technology use
AI-powered detection: Thorn Detect uses machine learning tools to quickly identifies potential child sexual abuse images and videos on a digital device, helping investigators speed up case resolution and prioritize the most critical files.
Computer Vision AI Software: the software is integrated into social media platforms, cloud storage services, and messaging apps. When users upload photos or videos, Safer automatically scans the visual content before it can be shared or stored.
Press and research
- Academic work
Thiel, D., Stroebel, M., and Portnoff, R. (2023). Generative ML and CSAM: Implications and Mitigations. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/jv206yg3793. https://doi.org/10.25740/jv206yg3793.
https://purl.stanford.edu/jv206yg3793
A joint report between the Stanford Internet Observatory and Thorn examines implications of fully realistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) produced by generative machine learning models. Advances in the open-source generative ML community have led to increasingly realistic adult content, to the point that content indistinguishable from actual photographs is likely to be common in the very near future. These same models and techniques have been also leveraged to produce CSAM. We examine what has enabled this state of affairs, the potential societal consequences of the proliferation of such content, and measures that can be taken to minimize harm from current and future visual generative ML models.
- News article
Lapowsky, I. (2023, June 24). The race to prevent 'the worst case scenario for machine learning.' NYTimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/24/business/ai-generated-explicit-images.html
- News article
Tenbarge, K. (2024, April 23). Top AI companies commit to child safety principles as industry grapples with deepfake scandals. NBC News.