Technology @lemmy.world Squire1039 @lemm.ee 8mo ago

UK Trial: Pornhub's Chatbot Halts Millions from Accessing Child Abuse Content

www.wired.com A Pornhub Chatbot Stopped Millions From Searching for Child Abuse Videos

Every time someone in the UK searched for child abuse material on Pornhub, a chatbot appeared and told them how to get help.

A trial program conducted by Pornhub in collaboration with UK-based child protection organizations aimed to deter users from searching for child abuse material (CSAM) on its website. Whenever CSAM-related terms were searched, a warning message and a chatbot appeared, directing users to support services. The trial reported a significant reduction in CSAM searches and an increase in users seeking help. Despite some limitations in data and complexity, the chatbot showed promise in deterring illegal behavior online. While the trial has ended, the chatbot and warnings remain active on Pornhub's UK site, with hopes for similar measures across other platforms to create a safer internet environment.

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That kinda sounds reasonable. Especially if it can prevent someone going down that rabbithole? Good job PH.
Imagine a porn site telling you to seek help because you're a filthy pervert. Thats gotta push some to get some help I'd think.
Sounds like a good feature. Anything that stops people from doing that is great.

But I do have to wonder… were people really expecting to find that content on PornHub? That site certainly seems legit enough that I doubt they’d have that stuff on there. I’d imagine most actual content would be on the dark web and specialty groups, not on PH.
The headline is slightly misleading. 2.8 million searches were halted, but according to the article they didn't attempt to figure out how many of those searches came from the same users. So thankfully the number of secret pedophiles in the UK is probably much lower than the headline might suggest.
4.4 million sounds a bit excessive. Facebook marketplace intercepted my search for "unwanted gift" once and insisted I seek help. These things have a lot of false positives.
Google does this too, my wife was searching for "slutty schoolgirl" costumes and Google was like "have a seat ma'am"
Non-paywall link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240305000347/https://www.wired.com/story/pornhub-chatbot-csam-help/

There's this lingering implication that there is CSAM at Pornhub. Why bother with "searches for CSAM" if it does not return CSAM results? And what exactly constitutes a "search for CSAM"? The article and the linked one are incredibly opaque about that. Why target the consumer and not the source? This feels kind of backwards and like language policing without really addressing the problem. What do they expect to happen if they prohibit specific words/language? That people searching for CSAM will just give up? Do they expect anything beyond them changing the used language and go for a permanent cat and mouse game? I guess I share the sentiments that motivated them to do this, but it feels so incredibly pointless.
Did it? Or did it make them look elsewhere?

The amount of school uniform, braces, pigtails and step-sister porn on Pornhub makes me think they want the nonces to watch.
This is one of the more horrifying features of the future of generative AI.

There is literally no stopping it at this stage: AI generated CSAM will be possible soon thanks to systems like SORA.

This is disgusting and awful. But one part of me hopes it can end the black market of real CSAM content forever. By flooding it with infinite fakes, users with that sickness can look at something that didn't come from a real child's suffering. It's the darkest of silver linings I think, but I spoke with many sexual abuse survivors who feel the same about the loli hentai in Japan, in that it could be an outlet for these individuals instead of them finding their own.

Dark topics. But I hope to see more actions like this in the future. If pedos can self isolate from IRL interactions and curb their ways with content that harms no one, then everyone wins.
Oh just like an experiment the headline made me think someone was suing over this.
I was wondering what sort of phrases get that notification but mentioning that mind be a bit counterproductive
The original report from the researchers can be found here: https://www.iwf.org.uk/about-us/why-we-exist/our-research/rethink-chatbot-evaluation/ Researchers said:

The chatbot was displayed 2.8 million times between March 2022 and August 2023, resulting in 1,656 requests for more information and Stop It Now services; and 490 click-throughs to the Stop It Now website.

So from 4.4 million banned queries, only 2.8 million (between the date interval in the quote above) and only 490 clicks to seek help. Ngl, kinda underwhelming. And I also think, given the amount of extremely edgy content already on Pornhub, this is kinda sus.
You can just encounter shit like that on phub?
It's surprising to see Aylo (formerly Mindgeek) coming out with the most ethical use of AI chatbots, especially when Google Gemini cannot even condemn pedophilia.
directing users to support services.

if those services are actually helpful, then hell yeah
To be fair people are dumb as fuck, don't search for illegal things on Google or any site that is well known cause that's how you end up on some watch list.

222 comments