The Intervention Journey A Roadmap to Effective Digital Safety Measures 2025

2.7 Cross-platform action: collaboration against online CSEA The Tech Coalition’s Lantern is the first cross- platform signal-sharing programme for companies to strengthen how they respond to and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA). The initiative enables participating companies to securely and responsibly share signals with each other regarding activities identified on their platforms that violate their respective policies against OCSEA. By participating in Lantern, companies can increase their prevention and detection capabilities, speed up identification of threats, build situational awareness of new predatory tactics and strengthen reporting of illegal activity. Identification The Tech Coalition identified critical challenges facing the industry in effectively combating OCSEA. These threats are increasingly complex, with predatory actors continually advancing their tactics to evade detection. In addition, OCSEA threats are often cross-platform in nature, making it difficult for any one company to solve the challenge. Two of the most pressing dangers online today are the sexual grooming of children and financial “sextortion” of young people. In both of these cases, predators often first connect with young people on public forums, posing as peers or friendly new connections, before directing the young person to other platforms to do things like solicit and share CSAM or coerce payments by threatening to share intimate images with others. This means that predators can harness multiple online platforms in the same offence to target children and avoid detection. Since these offences span across platforms in a single incident, companies can only see a portion of the harm facing a victim. Recognizing this gap, the Tech Coalition highlights an urgent need for companies to work together in order to uncover the full picture and take proper action. Design The Lantern programme was developed over a two-year period, which included a pilot phase to define requirements, identify opportunities and ensure that signal sharing remained proportional to the goal of combating OCSEA. Throughout this process, several Tech Coalition member companies, along with other industry participants, contributed to shaping the programme’s design and functionality. To further strengthen the programme, the Tech Coalition partnered with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) to conduct a Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA). This assessment helped evaluate the programme’s impact and ensure it upheld fundamental human rights principles throughout the programme design. The HRIA conducted by BSR acted as a guide for embedding human rights considerations into the Lantern programme’s design and implementation. As a result, several key safeguards were established, including the creation of a programme taxonomy for all signals uploaded into Lantern, the implementation of a data retention policy for signals and an application/vetting process for companies interested in joining Lantern. Additionally, the HRIA informed the development of annual training programmes covering human rights, data protection and signal processes, which are updated regularly through continuous collaboration with stakeholders. During the programme’s development, the Tech Coalition engaged 23 external stakeholders, including representatives from child rights groups, victim advocacy organizations, digital rights and privacy advocates, government agencies, academia, survivor groups and institutions addressing other trust and safety challenges. This broad consultation ensured that Lantern was informed by diverse perspectives addressing child- safety-related harms. Implementation The results of the pilot were compelling. During the pilot, URLs confirmed to contain CSAM were shared with another company. Using these URLs, the receiving company conducted investigations on its platforms, identifying and addressing behaviours linked to these violations. This led to the removal of more than 10,000 accounts engaged in harmful activities. Encouraged by these findings, Lantern was formally launched in August 2023 and later announced in November 2023. Since its launch, the Tech Coalition has not only increased the number of companies participating in Lantern but has also advanced the programme through enhanced compliance requirements, operational improvements and ongoing risk mitigation and human rights due diligence. The Tech Coalition remains responsible for Lantern’s risk mitigation, management and oversight. This responsibility includes vetting the eligibility of prospective companies, ensuring compliance with the Lantern agreement and Two of the most pressing dangers online today are the sexual grooming of children and financial “sextortion” of young people. The Intervention Journey: A Roadmap to Effective Digital Safety Measures 26