The shock and trauma of child sexual abuse caused by the uncontrolled content on Internet platforms and passing through the servers of Internet Service Providers [ISPs] is life-lasting. Hundreds of thousands of children as young as three-years-old are damaged psychologically and traumatised when sexually abused on live online sex shows. Teenagers are videoed and the images of the abuse inflicted on them are passed around the world through the dark web for the sexual satisfaction of pedophiles.
The child sexual abuse materials that are allowed on the Internet platforms of the telecommunication corporations and hi-tech companies like TikTok, Google, Facebook, Twitter, PLDT, Globe, Dito and many more, are at an all time high.
Thousands of children are being psychologically and sexually abused online as you read these words. Your children, your relatives’ children, could be among them.
Parents cannot know or control what their children are viewing and experiencing, and with whom they are engaging over the Internet that could damage them for life. The values that you teach them are being eroded by the grooming, seduction, violence, fake news, and sex images streamed through the ISPs.
The telecommunication companies everywhere claim that they are immune from civil liability and not responsible for the content that terrorists, criminals or child sex abusers post on their social media platforms. It is a public billboard, free for all. That is because the US law, known as the Communications Decency Act of 1996 Section 230, grants immunity to the social media platforms—unlike newspapers, radio and television that are responsible and liable for content.
At the same time, Section 230 is contradicted by laws forbidding content containing racism, misogyny, child abuse, excessive material promoting terrorism and the live-streaming of child sexual abuse shows and other offensive material.
Thousands of children are being psychologically and sexually abused online as you read these words. Your children, your relatives’ children, could be among them
The powerful Philippine law, RA 11930, forbids all child abuse materials and mandates Philippine telecommunication companies to install blocking software, although many do not and are reluctant to allow independent inspections of compliance. Any individual to be found with such material on their mobile phone or computer device could be sentenced to at least 20 years in jail.
Not so long ago, three- 10- and 11- year-old boys got hold of a smartphone and bought a cheap one- or two-hour Internet connection load from a telecommunications ISP. They easily found child sexual abuse material online and viewed and downloaded it and viewed it several times. They were so sexually aroused they found a six-year-old girl and raped her, having viewed the offensive images on the Internet.
Since it is allowed to be posted and not blocked, parents can do little to stop it. The ISPs will not stop it despite RA 11930 as police enforcers don’t know how to monitor the ISPs.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
The reality that such material is easily available online and can be easily found by children, leading them to abuse other children, is shocking for society in what many wrongly think is a Christian and civilised world. Today, society has strayed far from the values of the gospel. The institutional Church teaches sacramental practice for believers to get to heaven and avoid hell.
It has largely failed, with exceptions, to evangelise and preach the gospel of social justice, love of neighbour, and protection of children, but covers up child sex abuse by clergy.
Internet platforms and ISPs are enabling and abetting these crimes and through algorithms and Artificial Intelligence software; they are promoting them. These very issues are presently on trial in the US Supreme Court. The telecommunication and social media corporations claim that they are not responsible and have immunity from prosecution under Section 230 of the US 1996 Communications Decency Act, which holds that the corporations are not liable for what is posted by others on their sites.
They easily found child sexual abuse material online and viewed and downloaded it and viewed it several times. They were so sexually aroused they found a six-year-old girl and raped her, having viewed the offensive images on the Internet.
This is contradicted, as said above, by other laws that insist that all platforms must monitor their platforms and remove all indecent materials that induce crime, hatred, racism, extreme violence, obscene and child abuse.
The issue is: should Section 230 be repealed and wheter the justices of the US Supreme Court do it or not and does that US law apply in the Philippines and overstep its sovereignty? That’s for the Philippine courts to decide.
Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act makes a big difference between ISPs and other media publications like radio, television and newspapers, which are strictly restricted and can be sued for libel or obscene content. The ISPs, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, make billions of dollars by inducing customers to stay on their social media platforms as long as possible because of advertising revenue.
To achieve this, they have resorted to using Artificial Intelligence software and algorithms to recommend, suggest and push more and more related material in front of the visitors to their sites to increase advertising earnings.
Even it is promoting illegal material like child sexual abuse and exploitation or terrorists acts, it allegedly doesn’t matter to them.
This is the issue before the US Supreme Court.
Internet platforms and ISPs are enabling and abetting these crimes and through algorithms and Artificial Intelligence software; they are promoting them
The Gonzales family suffered the death of their children by terrorist attacks and are suing YouTube, which is owned by Google, for promoting the terrorist websites, recruitment and propaganda. They say YouTube and Google are aiding and abetting acts of terror that killed their child. Such acts are forbidden by the anti-terror laws.
The outcome of the US Supreme Court deliberations could be a shock for the powerful social media corporations that control so much of people’s lives, especially vulnerable children.
Likewise, social media companies are using, aiding and abetting child abuse online by allowing child sexual abuse live shows to connect with customers and pass through the servers of the ISPs. They are using Artificial Intelligence software and algorithms to recommend, suggest and push more of these images to customers.
This is where they do not have the protection of Section 230. It is one thing to have material posted on their sites, which they say they try to take down, but to allow software to automatically find more abusive material and deliver it to the customer is a crime in itself, some say.
Will the US Supreme Court justices rule in favour of the social media corporations or in favour of protecting the public from this uncontrolled promotion of obscene images of child abuse? We will soon know when the decision is handed down if they have the intelligence and moral force to protect children or not.
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
