Since 2017, the platform has led to six million images and videos of child sexual exploitation being removed from 1,000 electronic service providers spanning 100 countries worldwide. However, as a victim-centric tool, its true success lies with it breaking the cycle of victimization for children/survivors.
As one survivor noted: “We never knew that there was any hope for getting the images of our abuse taken down from the internet. We always thought it was another thing that we could not control. Now that we know that there are actually ways to do it, we want it all shut down. We don’t want any more children to have to deal with what we deal with if that can be fixed.”
Since its launch, Project Arachnid has detected more than 42.7 million possible images and sent 10.8+ million removal notices to content providers around the world. This is in part due to a growing, global collaboration involving 11 child protection organizations whose analysts are working with C3P to scale up the capacity and impact of Project Arachnid.
The data held by Project Arachnid offers C3P an unprecedented look into the global availability of Child Sex Assault Material (CSAM) online and the scale of the threat. This helps C3P to better identify systemic failures and where the gaps in child protection lie, and assist governments in developing effective regulatory frameworks that hold tech accountable, along with protecting children and supporting survivors.
To mark Project Arachnid’s five-year milestone, C3P has publicly released a three-minute video called Unwanted Followers, which initially premiered at a G7 meeting in London. The video is based on real accounts of survivors whose abuse was recorded and shared online. Survivors have had to live this traumatic and tragic reality for decades due to platforms and services on the internet that have been allowed to operate without oversight. C3P consulted with a number of survivors, who felt the video’s message was both powerful and accurate.
Project Arachnid is a major global tool for disrupting the international distribution of CSAM and will continue focus its efforts on the protection and safety of children/survivors.