Google Releases API That Helps Identify Child Abuse Images

Google has released an API to help organizations identify images of child abuse more quickly through machine learning. This would work not only with existing material, but also with new images.

Google writes that it makes the tool available to NGOs and other internet companies in the form of the so-called Content Safety API. It is available on request. According to Google, the technology should help to identify images of child abuse more quickly. Because it does not use hashes to detect images, it must also be possible to distinguish new material in this way. The API is intended to support manual review of images.

Google claims that the API can speed up the work of reviewers, as it has been found that a reviewer was able to identify seven times more material in the same period. VentureBeat writes that the timing of the release is no coincidence, as the British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recently criticized that Google is doing too little to prevent the spread of child abuse images. The site also refers to a broader call to action in the UK, which should encourage tech companies to take more action in that area.