Investigators use artificial intelligence to identify and stop Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC), says a maker AI Tools for Law Enforcement, Government Agencies, and Enterprises.
Voyager LabsIn a blog post posted on Tuesday, explained how many ICAC task force use tools such as “topic query search” to locate online material relating to crimes against children.
Voyager stated that the systems could find accounts which traded child sexual abuse material. They can also identify and locate offenders, identify potential victims and compile vital data to assist law enforcement in opening a case against criminals.
This process can be remarkably quick, with results sometimes available in just seconds.
The “topic query dictionary” is another tool used by the investigators Voyager cites. It’s similar to a codebook or translation dictionary. Criminal investigators can contribute their knowledge of criminal communications — slang, terminology, and emojis — to the lexicon, which AI software can use to find references to criminal activity online.
Jason Webb, Voyager’s National Investigations director, who contributed to this blog, explained that the Lexicon acts as a database shared by specialists, allowing them to use each other’s expertise in their research.
We Know Where You Are
Artificial intelligence is useful for network analysis. Voyager said that AI can identify who is interacting with pages where child abuse material has traded to perform network analysis. This will help determine if there are multiple offenders involved in ICAC ring.
The report explained that gangs are often involved in ICAC and human trafficking. Therefore, these investigations could uncover the criminal enterprises of large organizations engaged in a wide range of illegal activity.
Voyager also said that certain systems can pinpoint the location of criminal activities. Voyager stated that sharing geo data could be one of most important factors in reducing ICAC. This is because it allows agencies with this new technology the ability to share their research and findings with smaller departments who may not have as many resources.
Voyager explained that, in addition to identifying criminal activities, network analysis could be used to identify potential victims. Voyager explained how, once families and law enforcement are informed that criminals have tried to contact a particular child, immediate measures can be taken to keep the child safe.
Voyager says that, in many cases this type of AI research is possible solely by using open-source intelligence. This information is freely available to everyone without any special permissions or warrants. In the past, however, the company was in trouble over its data-collection practices.
In January 2023 Meta filed a lawsuit against Voyager Labs In U.S. Federal court in California, the company was accused of improperly scraping data from Facebook profiles and platforms.
Meta claims Voyager has created over 38,000 fake Facebook accounts, and that they have used these to scrape the “viewable profile data” of 600,000. Voyager, according to Meta, sold its scraping tools for companies that wanted to monitor social media without being detected. The information was then sold to the highest bidder.
Voyager claims that the lawsuit was unjustified, revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of how the software at issue works, and most importantly, it is detrimental to U.S. safety and public safety worldwide.
Filtering Nude Images
Artificial intelligence is also able to identify child sexual abuse materials through services such as Microsoft’s Photo DNA or Google’s Hash Matching API. These services use a database of child sexual abuse material to identify the content that is being shared or stored online.
Joshua Buxbaum is the co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at WebPurifyIn Irvine, Calif., there is a service that provides online child protection and web filtering via the cloud.
“As is the case with all AI models nothing is perfect. Humans are required to check the content. This is not ideal for mental health,” he said.
Other standalone parental controls applications include CanopyThe filter can be used to remove nudity from incoming or outgoing images. “It warns parents if their children appear to be sexting,” explained Canopy CMO Yaron Litwin.
He told TechNewsWorld that “this can prevent these images from falling into wrong hands, and give parents a chance of educating their children about the dangers they are doing.”
Chris Hauk is the consumer privacy champion for Consumers United. Pixel PrivacyTechNewsWorld spoke with, a publisher who specializes in consumer privacy and security guides. This allows predators to extort photos or money from children, while threatening parents to reveal the information if they don’t comply.
Litwan also added “sextortion” — using nude images of children to extort more images or money from them — has increased 322% year-over-year in February.
He said that some sextortion victims have committed suicide.
Digital Education Vital for Child Protection
The social media is also a source of child sex abuse.
Paul Bischoff is a privacy advocate and privacy expert at ComparitechTechNewsWorld spoke with, an online resource for reviews, information, and advice on consumer security products.
He cited an article published by Comparitech, which found that the removal of content for child abuse in 2022 was almost as high as all the removals made in 2021. There were similar stories for Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
Litwan said, “This is an issue that’s only getting more serious over time.” Parents today don’t have the same experience as their kids in the digital world and may not be aware of all the threats they face every day.
Isabelle Vladoiu founder of the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human RightsA nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., has stated that education is the best way to protect children online.
She told TechNewsWorld that by providing digital literacy programs such as digital citizenship, raising awareness of online risks and teaching children how to recognize red-flags, they are empowered to make informed choices and protect themselves against exploitation.
She continued by saying that “real-life examples show that when children learn about online safety and trafficking risks, they are more empowered to fight against torture and exploitation.” “This fosters a safer environment online for everyone.”
