The sexual politics of technology industry responses to online child sexual exploitation during COVID-19: "This pernicious elitism"

Michael Salter; Delanie Woodlock; Tim Wong

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106559

The sexual politics of technology industry responses to online child sexual exploitation during COVID-19: "This pernicious elitism"

Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Nov 21:106559. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106559. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Michael Salter¹, Delanie Woodlock², Tim Wong²

Affiliations

¹ School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts Design and Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: michael.salter@unsw.edu.au.
² School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts Design and Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

PMID: 37993364
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106559

Abstract

Background: Increasing rates of online child sexual exploitation further spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic at a time of disrupted child protection capacity. While the technology industry is central to coordinated efforts to prevent online abuse and remove harmful content, it is largely exempt from formal child protection obligations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the response of the technology industry to online child sexual exploitation during COVID-19 from the perspective of anti-exploitation professionals.

Participants and setting: An international sample of fifteen anti-exploitation professionals were interviewed as part of a larger study on the impacts of COVID-19 on online child sexual exploitation.

Methods: Interviews were coded based on a template analysis with a focus on interactions with the technology sector during COVID-19.

Results: Major themes arising from the analysis were 1) the burden of online safety work on victims and services, 2) the lack of prioritisation of online child protection by technology companies during COVID-19 and 3) the complicity of the technology industry with the online sexploitation of children.

Conclusions: The analysis of the views of anti-exploitation professionals highlights the alignment between the economic interests of the technology sector and the sexual interests of online child abusers in the absence of government oversight. A framework of sexual politics highlights the gendered nature this alignment and emphasises the need for regulatory intervention, harm minimisation and the restructuring of the online environment and technology sector in the interests of child safety.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse; Child sexual exploitation; Covid-19; Internet; Social media; Technology.