A new report from the Stanford Internet Observatory revealed that the CyberTipline for reporting online child exploitation (CSAM) is overwhelmed and needs improvement for law enforcement to capture predators. The CyberTipline is “enormously valuable and leads to the rescue of children and prosecution of offenders,” however, the report said child sex abuse material created by artificial intelligence is threatening to overwhelm the situation.
The system is currently bogged down with millions of tips and law enforcement officers are not able to prioritize the reports for investigation.
The CyberTipline was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 1998 and “established a national resource center and clearinghouse to provide technical assistance to state and local governments, law enforcement agencies and individuals in locating and recovering missing children.”
The CyberTipline allows the public and electronic service providers to report online child sex abuse exploitation. Staffers working the CyberTipline review the reports, identify the location of the victim or predator and send the information to the appropriate local law enforcement agency.
If a report cannot be geolocated to a specific area, the report is then made available to federal law enforcement.
In 2023, the center received more than 36 million reports of child exploitation. Of those, 2.1 million CyberTipline reports were given to federal law enforcement agencies.
“Almost certainly in the years to come, the CyberTipline will just be flooded with highly realistic-looking AI content, which is going to make it even harder for law enforcement to identify real children who need to be rescued,” researcher Shelby Grossman said.
Just 5%-8% of the tips lead to arrests because of a lack of funding and legalities, according to the report.
In 2023, about 92% of the tips received involved countries outside of the U.S. — a stark difference from 2008 when the majority of the tips concerned American victims and offenders.
The Stanford report outlines a few recommendations such as having Congress increase funding to NCMEC, providing clear information to social media platforms on how to file a detailed report to the CyberTipline, and providing resources to law enforcement so they have the time and investigate child sex abuse crimes.
Several AI companies — including OpenAI, Meta and Google — have agreed to implement new practices and principles to minimize the risk of child sexual abuse material and train to remove the material from their platforms.
