There are more than 500,000+ child predators online every day. This has led to an explosion of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) worldwide as internet and digital technologies amplify. Child predators have infinite access to CSAM due to the easy, anonymous, and on-demand availability of these illicit graphic images and videos of child victims. Alarmingly, 85% of online predators are hands-on abusers.
As part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, David&Goliath Brooklyn and non-profit, Child Rescue Coalition, launched Confessions of a Predator to help in the fight against child sexual exploitation. To reach lawmakers with the power to affect change, Confessions of a Predator stops predators in their tracks by turning them into their own whistleblowers for lawmakers to take urgent action. Using CRC’s CSAM detection technology, every time a predator shared or downloaded CSAM, an email was sent to 1,300 lawmakers across the US confessing their crimes (unbeknownst to them) – all based on real behaviour detected in real time — and calling on them to resource their local law enforcement better with CRC’s free technology and supporting needs.
“The ‘simple’ hack of turning child predators’ online behaviour into real-time emails from them that list their actual crimes and file names they are sharing or downloading in that moment is what’s so gripping about this campaign,” stated Brett Terblanche, group creative director and art director, D&G. “I imagine it would be hard for any person of authority to consider the problem isn’t a global pandemic that needs addressing when you receive personalised confessions by child predators.”
David&Goliath Brooklyn created the campaign pro bono.
Child Rescue Coalition built the technology that can detect CSAM in real time and it is free of charge to use. It can use the predator’s IP address to identify, locate, and arrest child predators. Since its inception, CRC has identified 72.5 million unique IP addresses that share and download sexually explicit images and videos of children 12 years and under. When law enforcement has access to the technology, it is powerfully effective. CRC has aided in the arrest of more than 14,000 predators and the rescue of more than 3,000 abused children globally to date. But the explosion in CSAM which is still growing exponentially and too often, law enforcement departments lack the resources necessary to take action on the data. The campaign overcomes that obstacle.
“These child predators then essentially turn themselves in by calling upon lawmakers to urge their local law enforcement to adopt and use CRC’s free technology, to arrest predators, prevent future harm and fight the crisis of CSAM and abuse,” stated Blake Winfree, chief of culture and social impact, D&G BKNY.
The campaign, which runs from April 11 – 14, will initially target lawmakers in the 10 states that reflect the highest volume of CSAM — California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio. Thousands of emails will be sent in each state during the campaign exposing lawmakers to the scale and severity of the problem in their own backyard.
“In today’s world, children talk to thousands of strangers online every day. The fact that they’re at home, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe anymore,” noted Luiz Vicente Simoes, group creative director and copywriter, D&G. “Technology needs to evolve with the times to protect those who are the most vulnerable, and that’s the beauty of CRC’s technology and the root idea of this campaign.”
The campaign is led by a video and a series of social media posts that give the look and feel of the dark web, with retro computer fonts, unnerving, glitching animations in bold red and black and a chilling original music track. Viewers are encouraged to help save children by tagging their local authorities to adopt CRC’s technology in their local communities using the hashtags #AdoptCRCTech and #JoinTheFight.
