The Sounds of Silence

April 2024

It is so very difficult to fight a faceless opponent. So often it is utterly overwhelming to keep throwing punches you have no idea are connecting!

Yesterday I started a presentation to a Year 9 cohort with the statement, "You will not realise how poorly you are protected online, until something goes wrong. You will look to the networks for help and you will not get it! I will try to help you, your parents and teachers, but the internet does not care about you!"

Though we still had a ball through the session and had more than enough laughs, the bluntness of that message to this amazing group of kids had them truly understanding why I do what I do.

By that age, well over half of them have already been through a significant online harm. A harm for which there was no response from Big Tech to their pleas for help. Instead, they come to me for help, and though I try my best, my hands are just as tied as theirs.

I try so hard to protect these kids, and have been for fifteen years, but I sit down sometimes and think what the hell is the point of all of this! Big Tech simply aren't listening; They don't give a damn!

I got off the phone today with a 16-year-old girl who was being threatened by an online predator. He has created naked images of her using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) App which converts clothed images of people into realistic nude images. This poor young girl was inconsolable on the phone and felt so helpless. Her fear was immense and I could not help but get emotional myself after the call was ended.

It is heartbreaking to deal with this so often!

This terrible human was threatening to release these fake images or "Deep Nudes" to all her school mates and family if she did not send him real naked images of herself. He is using Instagram and Snap Inc. to carry out his disgusting behaviour!

An hour later, I managed to finally get her smiling and had given her hope that everything was going to be alright. With a reporting link to the eSafety Commissioner forwarded to her and a promise she would speak to her parents tonight, I felt relieved. But then she was gone, and there I sat in silence, hoping to God she was going to be okay.

I have made a total of 71 reports to Meta already this afternoon. I have already received 7 responses that the offending account "does not go against community guidelines". Great work Mr Zuckerberg!

I am dealing with this almost daily and it is truly overwhelming.

These Deep Nude Apps are now a very strong and real fear for teens. Kids who are already experiencing the roller-coaster of emotion adolescence throws at them, are having to deal with the fear of being exposed in such a graphic way. What is even more concerning is the fear their family and friends will not believe them that such generated nudes are fake.

Additionally, these apps are being downloaded and used by scammers in massive numbers, giving them an easy way to make money by threatening young and vulnerable victims. Their job is being made easier every day by the creators of unregulated AI technologies.

All the while, these apps are being offered for download via Google Play and the Apple store without restriction. Many of the apps and their respective websites are being displayed readily via Google searches, promoted with words such as "prank", "fun" or "remove clothes simple and fast".

These technologies have been released directly to the public without any form of regulation or approval. They are open to be downloaded by anyone and as such, anyone on the planet now must face the very real possibility of being compromised.

Such fake images, accompanied by threats and coercion are being openly distributed via Meta and Snapchat without detection and with little to no moderation or support for victims.

Over fifteen years I have attempted to make contact with a number of Big Tech personnel to seek help or at least a point of contact for assistance, only to be ignored.

Over the past 5 years, the only contact I have ever received from Big Tech has been letters from lawyers threatening legal action or notices of cease and desist because I have dared to challenge them in the media or via other public campaigns.

Bring it on you cowards!

I recently contributed significantly to the demise of one particularly abhorrent website and its morally corrupt owner. This was due to the unquestionable research and insurmountable evidence I was able to provide to a US court in support of legal action against that site and owner.

I have years of research and victim based evidence which reflect nothing less but the complete failure by Big Tech to effectively act on the reports made to them by the victims of online harm.

The lack of true concern from Big Tech and the utter contempt they have for the protection of users pains me the most. This ignorance and disdain is so very difficult to overcome and it breaks my heart to consider the true number of kids who are going through hell and being ignored.

We have had over 30 Australian children take their lives this year already as a direct result of online harm. Harm which could have been significantly reduced or ended if Big Tech had the courage to listen or respond to user concerns in the first instance of reporting.