Youtube Part 2: SUFFER THE CHILDREN

A Social Media & Online Child Exploitation Update

An article written for the goal of #ExposingExploitation on social media and how social media giants only respond when there is enough outcry from the public and exposure by the news media (which you can not rely upon). Focusing on Youtube/Google specifically & their incessant diversion over the years regarding the very serious presence of child exploitation content & child grooming on their platform

Significant Changes for Significant Times

Exposing Exploitation has been quiet since their last video that was released 30th Sep 2018. They have been methodically rearranging their structure and planning carefully for the future. Presently, we face such significant times that a reassessment was required regarding how to approach such a rapidly changing landscape online, as well as adapt new methodology to deal with new threats.

Several videos are in the works along with laying a foundation to operate as a professionally structured organization. Exposing Exploitation is eager to engage with many new, exciting partnerships and to focus upon the future.

The rapid pace of change right now in global laws, political spheres and social attitudes makes Exposing Exploitation feel as if the ground is running away from beneath us, or we are treading water. The careful planning during the downtime has made the group resilient to the rapid changes. By not falling over from this frenetic runaway pace spinning the whole globe into a chaosphere, we came to realize that this group has been at the forefront for quite some time, with the rest of the mainstream media, corporations, governments and people worldwide falling behind at varying degrees.

Such a pace, such chaos used to be daunting but now it is enthralling. All this change afoot, yet the lack of attention to the issue of keeping children safe online has made EE take it as our priority issue and our focus.

Recent Livestreaming Child Sexual Exploitation Studies

Recent research and various published studies indicate that Youtube (along with Snapchat) is the most popular social media platforms for teenagers to use. The latest research has gone further to acknowledge that despite there being a general rule on most platforms prohibiting children under the age of 13, the reality is that children under the age of 13 is the largest growing market for Social Media platforms. Get them early.

The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) published a survey with responses collected from nearly 40,000 aged 7 to 16. This is the first survey published where we have seen details regarding what our current investigation has revealed. Youtube Livestream Abuse is a major problem and not receiving the attention it deserves.

The IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) had also published a study in May 2018 on the topic of Livestream Abuse. It is smaller than the NSPCC survey but also shocks the reader, especially when referring to some facts as

Shockingly, 100% of the imagery had been harvested from the original upload location and had been redistributed on third party websites, with 73% of content appearing on 16 dedicated

forums. This indicates the abusive imagery was being shared with the intention of advertising paid downloads of videos of webcam child sexual abuse.

Scary, yet not quite confirming all our findings.

Youtube is a platform whose history of malfeasance, contempt towards its users, staunch insouciance and two-faced public statements create an indelible distrust of the platform. Considering that two of the Not for profit organizations and their recent studies into Livestreaming Child Abuse do not name Youtube as the largest platform where the child abuse and production of child exploitation occurs, this has only deepened the distrust. Naturally, the IWF has Google (Youtube's parent company) as a major sponsor.

The studies deserver a more detailed analysis and a comparison against our findings. Some of the research, risks and recommendations within the existing studies do indicate progress but some facts are not present, correct or fully disclosed. There is also a tentativeness when trying to address the elephant in the room, being the social media platforms themselves (the largest video sharing and viewing one in particular)

In the next section we will look at a selection of news articles from previous years to this month. We will comment regarding their significance and help the reader to hypothesize as to why this very dangerous risk presented to online child safety was not treated as much of a danger as we know it to be.

So please join us as we return again into the absolute state of it all, to wrestle with exploitative vampires, drag them out into the light and do our bit to keep things safer at night.

Reporting in the News: Corporate, Legal & Political Spheres

Below you will see a few year's worth of articles. They relate to instances of Child Exploitation occurring on Youtube as well as other issues that have plagued this tech giant and the video streaming platform it owns.

When selecting the articles for referencing here, I was surprised to notice a commonality between them that was not laid out so plainly before. All of the issues addressed regarding Youtube and how it is a risk to children were underreported with the exception of #Elsagate, which went viral into the mainstream early in November 2017 after the Medium.com article by James Bridle was appropriated by major news organizations.

This article created a snowball effect when shortly after it was published, H3H3 Productions' Youtube channel visited the r/elsagate subreddit in one of their episodes. H3H3's coverage turned #elsagate viral worldwide with all newspapers, TV stations and even radio shows commenting on the brazenly grotesque malformation of what was meant to be entertainment and education for our youth.

And yet despite all this, #Elsagate still exists in it's hypercoloured demented format with plagiarized Intellectual property from Disney, Sony Pictures, Marvel and Nickelodeon today. It still is providing a traumatic and mentally damaging caricature of children's entertainment. A brief survey of Youtube search results this week did indeed prove the #elsagate problem being worse than ever, but that will be another deep research project to undertake when investigating Youtube further.

What is now of grave concern to Exposing Exploitation was how children were and still are being manipulated, exploited, groomed and blackmailed into all manner of risky and sexual behaviors. Except now this exploitation is perpetrated by adult pedophile groomers in the livestream chat feature of Youtube Livestreams.

All of Exposing Exploitation's previous video episodes have addressed this issue from differing angles and yet it is only this month where the issue picked up some traction by the publication of some fair and accurate mainstream media articles. These are included chronologically and I apologize in advance for the paywalls behind all The Times UK articles (you can sign up for 1 month free which I did just to view these).

The selection of articles will provide a timeline of the relevant events involving Youtube and child exploitation on their platform. Some of these articles demanded changes to law affecting online platforms and how users should educate their children about staying safe online. Some of them demanded changes YEARS ago and sadly, we are at a stage where it has never been worse for children on Youtube.

Throughout the process of compiling this list, it became obvious how much contempt Youtube has for trying to actually address this issue. Their regurgitation of the same rhetorical statement can be interpreted as "We don't mind if children suffer and are at risk of irrevocable damage during their formative years because of being on our platforms, just shut up about it and keep using our platform."

Such an attitude is the pinnacle of Tech giant insouciance which has come into prominence from our complacency and Youtube's riding the wave of technological innovation. The entailing explosive growth of internet usage and Youtube's ever increasing domination of the online video sharing market ensured that existing laws were not able to keep up with them and what they did or did not do.

It is their attitude that I despise the most. It sickens me and makes me hunger for the day I am ever in a position to potentiate Exposing Exploitation's evidence in a setting where justice is served and served absolutely. There are no more excuses to come from faceless and nameless googlespeaker bots that can placate me. And I expect any reasonably conscientious person to feel the same after reading through.

An Abysmal Timeline of Child Exploitation Crimes occurring on Youtube

Below is a series of news coverage reporting on instances of child grooming and child sexual exploitation occurring on Google's platforms. As you will realize by the end of this section, Google and Youtube have been giving the same placative statements publicly via the media for almost six years now. The statements they make are insulting in their noncommittal nature and belie their main motive being to assuage public concern, without actually implementing strong, protective policy and collaboration with law enforcement agencies to find and convict the perpetrators of these crimes. There are two sections: Youtube E-celebs using their fame and online presence to procure child pornography and commit real life child abuse with their adoring fans & examples of child sexual exploitation crimes committed via the Youtube platform by pedophiles and how this can occur I have culled the expansive list of articles on this subject. A lot of great investigative reporting was done by the Times UK but it is all behind a paywall. A sad realization that even risk minimization in the form of news acting as a public safety announcement to children and parents worldwide is capitalized upon. All of the Youtubers and news organizations we approached on this issue so far have not shown an interest despite presenting a public face of being focused especially on such exploitative issues. I guess they are ok with only covering such difficult issues when it bolsters or profits their brand. I guess they are ok with being upset about it only when there's money to be made

Youtube E-celebs and Channel Owners leveraging the Youtube platform to procure child pornography and to commit child sexual abuse in real life

Austin Jones Youtube Channel - His channel and all its video uploads remain on Youtube with the last upload being May 2017. I hope it has been demonetized.

Scary Mommy -Youtube wont delete Youtube Tween Channel & Videos who was arrested for Battery of a Child Under 16 Years of Age 24th Sep 2018 An article that expresses the many concerns for these child actors in the SevenSuperGirls videos addressed not just from a working rights & conditions angle, but from how high the risk of exploitation both sexual and financial is to any child on Youtube. There is a link to another Scary Mommy article provided with some simple steps a parent can take to add some more safety to their child's interaction with Youtube and reduce the risk of them being exploited or targeted by child groomers.

Examples of the Systemic Failure In Youtube's approach, policies and response to the crimes of Child Pornography and Child Sexual Exploitation Occurring on their Platform

Naked Security - Google and Microsoft tackle child abuse images with search and YouTube changes 19th Nov 2013 This is not working. It might have worked in 2013 but it does not now. In 2018 I have seen fanfare regarding evolving technologies to keep up with the scale and volume of how much child abuse imagery exists on Youtube, yet it doesn't translate to efficacy today. Algorithms, Photo DNA and hash fingerprinting, A.I. and human moderator reviewers are not enough to control the problem so perhaps Youtube could try to be proactive in assisting in the prosecution of those who upload the imagery to their platform.

The pedophiles are certainly more ingenious in uploading the child abuse images even through their simpler,cheaper methods than all this money and fanfare touting latest technologies as a solution to removing child abuse images/videos from Youtube.

The Spinoff NZ - ‘Hello, my name is Ally’ – how children are being exploited by YouTube predators 21st Nov 2016

Stuff.co.nz - David Farrier talks about uncovering YouTube predators exploiting children 22nd Nov 2016

News.com.au - ‘Can you do a stretching video?’ Paedophile rings using terrifying trick to prey on children on YouTube 8th Dec 2016 This article is one of the earliest reported instances in the press I found which addressed how the online enticement of children to create their own child pornography was becoming a very real danger on Youtube. The article received next to no attention at the time.

BBC - Youtube Child Protection Mechanism Failing 5th Aug 2017 This is a shocking indictment of Youtube's negligence in preventing to allow Child Sexual Exploitation and grooming by pedophiles to occur on their platform. A group of volunteers called Trusted flaggers worked tirelessly to report as many instances of child grooming and endangerment they could find on Youtube. The results from their reporting in their Trusted flagger role was utterly contemptuous of child safety. Absolutely conspiratorial in allowing the possible child sexual exploitation to flourish and remain unchecked. It seems that the Trusted Flagger problem is being wound down. With such shocking ineffectiveness of their diligent and emotionally taxing work appearing for all intents and purposes to be ignored, and the role they filled likely being outsourced to other countries with cheaper labor, how could a conscientious, caring individual want to remain a part of such a company anyway? I cannot imagine how infuriating it would be for a volunteer who takes child protection seriously to consistently see a stonewalling of their efforts by the company who feels it has grown too big to be held accountable. I personally applaud anyone who can withstand such oppressive conditions to endure in their efforts for the safety of children. Unsung heroes. Some quotes from the Trusted Flaggers I find especially resonating : "there is no reliable way for a concerned parent, child in danger, or anyone else to reliably report and get action on a predatory channel." "with the average report I send directly to staff taking three months to be reviewed. Over the last year, it has been significantly worse and as a result of this I still have reports outstanding from last year" "They [YouTube] have systematically failed to allocate the necessary resources, technology and labour to even do the minimum of reviewing reports of child predators in an adequate timeframe," he says. "There also seems to be an overall lack of understanding regarding predatory activity on the platform and that thousands of children are being targeted and manipulated." "YouTube has inadvertently become a portal of access to children for paedophiles around the world," he says. "In the long term, YouTube needs to change their stance from being reactive to proactive." Remember, this was reported upon in August 2017. The problems still exist today. But not to worry, the nameless spokesperson who declined to an interview gave this assurance in a written statement to the BBC:

The Times UK - Child Abuse on Youtube 18th November 2017 PAYWALL This article was one of the first to present not just the exploitative and traumatic nature of #Elsagate themed children's content but also how advertisers were affected by it. This piece also explores how many of the companies who advertised on Youtube reacted to seeing that their products were being advertised around seriously inappropriate video content like the content which Greg Chism's Toy Freaks Channel uploaded. Youtube was already reeling from the previous Ad-pocalypse where advertisers were having their products being advertised around extremist and terrorist content. These companies cancelled their marketing contracts with Youtube en-masse and took them elsewhere. So when this #elsagate content that clearly was unsuitable for children and showed real children in distressing and traumatic situations made them flee again. But not to worry as...

Their Care Factor? Non-existent. We have witnessed similar instances of tutorial videos on Youtube but they were tutorials in how you can operate a series of link shorterners, apps and file hosting sites to monetize, distribute and download child pornography. These have been reported to Youtube via multiple flags and reporting and to this day still remain available for viewing on their platform.

The Times UK - Stop online child abuse or else, Sajid Javid tells tech firms 4th Sep 2018 PAYWALL Making a statement such as Zero-tolerance approach required substantiation. None is provided so no credulity is given to Google's statement. This is because if they had to substantiate such a statement outside of their befuddled googlespeak dictionary and help centre blogs, the data would indicate obvious failure on their behalf and inability to prove such a statement.

The Times - Predators Coax Children Into Exposing Themselves 10th dec 2018 Paywall

An article that was like a slap in the face. Exposing Exploitation has been investigating to spread awareness of this exact grooming tactic to manipulate children into creating their own child exploitation content for months. Exposing Exploitation has been ruminating over the legal implications at play when such an instance of a child being manipulated into performing acts on livestream to a paedophile in the livestream chat and trying to identify who is behind these crimes.

Throughout the course of the investigation several referrals of these paedophiles to law enforcement agencies worldwide has been made as the investigation and its operation grew to an almost 24/7 feat of focus and commitment to stop the paedophiles getting their way. Youtube (as always) remains aloof. Fingers in ears whilst "lalalalalala-ing" and their head in the sand. I predict that the day Youtube and it's parent company Google are forced to feel the full ramifications of the laws that they should have been complying with since they started their operations, will be the day that they will be held accountable for the co-conspiratorial role they have played in creating the largest live grooming platform on the internet.

Decisions made by this social media tech giant have to be scrutinized. Why would Youtube make it as easy as possible for livestreaming to occur when previously there was a requirement for a set amount of subscribers for a channel to have before they could access the livestreaming function? A study by the NSPCC found that one in 20 children who have posted a live stream were asked to take off their clothes. Throughout this current investigation instances of children being asked via livestream chats to expose themselves was far higher. I would hazard a guess that one in 20 livestreams do not involve any grooming or child exploitation occurring. In those where a child is asked, the attempt is thwarted more often than not due to the intervention of our livestream reporting team and their tireless, diligent efforts.

The Sun - Paedos Grooming Children Live on Youtube as They Trick Them to Take Off Clothes 10th Dec 2018

Very similar to the above article. What is most shocking is the complete and utter lack of interaction on the article. I have not searched for it on The Sun's Twitter or Facebook but it's safe to assume they received a similarly deadpan response. This article had three reader comments, one of which is Exposing Exploitation's. Perhaps the global public is OK to let Youtube handle this matter because as they state...

The Times view on the need for tech giants to protect children from paedophiles online 10th Dec 2018 PAYWALL

The Times UK - Parents Demand Youtube Action 11th Dec 2018 PAYWALL

Yeah, get fucked............

Charges and Convictions from the US Department of Justice - Project Safe Childhood Press Room.

All of the below involved grooming child victims on Youtube and/or child pornography being uploaded to Youtube. It is included to provide examples of where these crimes on Youtube resulted in arrests and convictions. This is all that I could find referencing Youtube.

It is great to see the USA provide heavy sentences for such crimes, indeed the USA is currently leading the global overhaul of how such crimes are treated and how these criminals are caught. Most promising of all is seeing how there is a legislative master plan being unfolded presently that will absolutely eviscerate any social media platform or online services provider who shirks their responsibilities in minimizing the existence of child sexual exploitation and child pornography on their platform, or responds too slowly to governmental requests for information which would assist in the arrest of the pedophiles on their platforms.

I don't want to get swept up with this excitement but I do sincerely hope that justice will be served for all due to such legislative changes being enacted and enforced.

CONCLUSION

So now my patient and studious reader, do you think Youtube is complicit in the occurrence of Child Sexual Exploitation and the proliferation/ creation of Child Pornography on their platform? A co-conspirator methinks...

A clear timeline of continual charades has been provided. Charades punctuated with the constant repetition of crimes occurring against children via online social media and particularly Youtube. Charades that we intend to stop dead in their tracks as no one should be taken a fool for so many years consecutively with a company trotting out the same insincere lines over and over again. The whole world should not be taken a fool at the cost of children growing up exposed to risks in an online 24/7 virtual space that contains very non-virtual dangers. Do we want a whole generation to be fucked up? Or do we want to pursue companies such as Youtube to not be so lackadaisical?

Why are they so focused on the censoring of contentious or more conservative users of their platform whilst anyone can go on their platform at any time and witness children being groomed by pedophiles?

We will continue exposing Youtube's pathetic attitude until they are fucked or until there is progress made that is independently verified to show a reduction or outright removal of the risk to children engaging with their platform. We also demand accountability in relation to how Youtube processes the flagging, removal & referral to law enforcement of all Child exploitation/pornographic material. Without that accountability, Youtube will continue shitting on our children and letting their minds and bodies be fucked by pedophiles.

#YoutubeWakeup

#GroomTube

#ExposingExploitation