Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others join hands to fight online child exploitation

In a bid to fight child exploitation online, Facebook on Thursday joined Google, Microsoft and 15 other tech companies to announce the formation of Project Protect to combat child sexual abuse on its platforms.

Project Protect is a renewed commitment and investment from the Technology Coalition expanding its scope and impact to protect kids online and guide its work for the next 15 years, the social networking giant said in a statement.

"Project Protect brings together the brightest minds from across the tech industry to tackle a grave issue that no one company can solve on its own - child exploitation and abuse. Facebook is proud to help lead this initiative," said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO.

Project Protect will focus on five key areas: tech innovation, collective action, independent research, information and knowledge sharing, and transparency and accountability.

Facebook said it has made its photo and video-matching technologies open source, which allows industry partners, developers and non-profits to more easily identify abusive content and share digital fingerprints of harmful content and allow hash-sharing systems to communicate with each other.

"We have also taken steps across our apps to make the broader internet safer for children. This includes running PhotoDNA on links shared on all our apps from other Internet sites and their associated content to detect known child exploitation housed elsewhere on the internet," said Antigone Davis, Facebook Global Head of Safety.

It also helps keep the broader internet safer as all violating content is shared with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) who work with local law enforcement around the world.

Last month, Facebook announced a new safety feature in Messenger that provides tips for spotting suspicious activity, encourages people under the age of 18 to be cautious when interacting with an adult they may not know, and empowers them to block or ignore someone when something doesn't seem right.

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