Supposing I was ok with directly alerting the authorities, which for some reason seems to be perhaps a bridge too far, how would I even go about that? Where's the "report pedophiles" REST API?
Also, post on your site that you report child porno. That should scare people off.
Now, if someone is uploading an image of their 16-year-old girlfriend taking a nude picture of themselves, that's still illegal but more of an ethical gray area, in which case I could understand hesitation at reporting to authorities. But based on OP's description, it's the real bad stuff, so reporting seems to be a no-brainer.
> if someone is uploading an image of their 16-year-old girlfriend
That isn't a grey area, that is wrong unless you have consent[0]. My point is that it is hard to tell what is and isn't child porn(hence this thread in general) and that an 18 y/o could look younger. What I think is possible is that someone could upload photos of THEMSELVES when they are either in the US or even in a country where that is legal and it is non-obvious what the age is.
Child Porn is fucking disgusting, I am not here to defend it. I am just pointing out how hard it is to identify it and that some people upload their own photos online. If you had a database that magically let you know if an image was illegal then of course I would say take it down.
edit: [0]I meant this generally, not that it would be OK to do this if she was 16, but if your gf was of legal age and you posted pictures of her or the two of you together.
Let's say they didn't have consent. It's wrong in the sense of it being "revenge porn", but should it really be considered as child pornography in the way it's classically viewed?
It's a gray area in that regard.
If someone is uploading things to his website which he can clearly identify as child porn without further analysis (if the child depicted is under 13, it's probably pretty easy to tell, unfortunately), I don't think he should hesitate to report it to law enforcement.
And if law enforcement investigates and learns it's not actually child porn... then they almost definitely won't charge anyone so long as no other crimes were committed. There are no downsides to reporting it and many downsides to keeping it to yourself.
Whether or not this is moral is irrelevant if it's not scalable. How about automated flagging of images for moderator review, and thinking about ways to reward or remunerate the moderators?
CV age detection should really be a thing, if it isn't already. Maybe there's an opportunity there if it's not already done, or way too hard?
I think this falls into the category of impossible. It is a hard enough problem for the human eye/brain. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traci_Lords
Reporting to them is the same as reporting it to the FBI.
They have various APIs you can use, but you probably need to contact them to make sure you meet the requirements.
If you aren't comfortable reporting it, what is your banning process like currently?
Anyway, here's your API https://developer-westus.microsoftmoderator.com/docs/service...
Guess you can be trendy AND help child rape victims.
That being said, if it is obvious that the image is CP and you have the IP address of someone who uploaded it, I couldn't imagine not passing on that information. Also, I would put a public disclaimer on the site indicating your policy.
edit: before people start flaming me as a rape apologist I want to clarify that notifying the FBI and giving away your users public information is a strong action. It is warranted in the case of CP (one of the few things I personally think) but that, as this thread is indicative of, it is difficult to identify IRL.
As the victim of child molestation; this absolutely needs to be reported. Saying anything else is sympathy for the lowest filth in existence.