As of Sept 3 2020 the audio content and written transcript for part 2 of this podcast ("A Criminal Underworld of Child Abuse part 2") is identical - word-for-word - with part 1. This is true on the NYTimes website as well as Spotify. Where is the content for Part 2???
And, echoing a comment from Part 1, I'm shocked at how few comments there are on this expose.
I would like to hear how privacy advocates justify absolute privacy in light of the atrocities it enables. I ask in good faith - I do not think I undervalue the right to privacy, but I do not regard it as an absolute right either, and I think gaining some clarity around these opposing values is needed before much progress can be made in resolving this crisis.
I agree with many of the previous posts - we need to take action to stop this now. Writing letters to politicians is all I can think of to do. Does anyone else have a more comprehensive plan or idea?
One question that was overlooked is what happens to the perpetrators? What punishment is handed down to these criminals? Are they incarcerated for life - with no chance of parole or just given probation and hours of community care? How does the justice system deal with these perverts? In my opinion extremely harsh sentences could be one way of bringing down the numbers.
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Hello,
I would like to know how we can most effectively bolster awareness of this issue and earnestly help end the proliferation of images of child sexual abuse. I believe we are complicit if we do not act. What can an individual do?
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The subject of these two episodes is hard to comprehend, but I felt there was some confusion in the information.
At one point it was explained that the FBI inform victims each time a picture of their abuse is found as part of a conviction. This was then conflated with tech companies identifying and reporting images of child sexual abuse. It is therefore wrong to imply that if FaceBook et al blocked the exchange of these images, that somehow victims would not have to be frequently reminded of their abuse, that will only stop when every paedophile with a copy of the image has been arrested.
This makes me proud to support the NYT. Thank you and thank Michael Keller and Gabriel Dance. I have been a Daily listener since day 1. I appreciate the range of topics you choose.
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Is there a call to action we can participate in?
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I was wondering why reporters concentrated investigation into the supply and not what we are doing about the demand. If we concentrate all our efforts on the supply of the material without thinking about the person demanding the material. What is America doing to understand the demand?
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@Bart I agree 100%. 18.4 million reports!!!!!! Who are these men using those images.
Thank you for this episode. I read with horror the front page article several weeks ago on the same topic, and as terrible as it is, I am grateful to the NYT for once again spotlighting something that is plainly repulsive.
I want to help. I want this to stop. I want to become part of whatever it takes to get the tech companies to stop storing/keeping/encrypting these images. Can you please share resources that we as average citizens can leverage to stop this horror?
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I don’t think it is the kind of matters which can be taken care of by private companies and hopefully their consciousness will just emerge out of the blue. It is a matter of federal legislation.
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The CBC did an extensive and excellent podcast called HUNTING WARHEAD about online child abuse.
@Marcia thank you so so much for this reference. I’ve been seeking a way to understand this topic since it’s affected our family, but there hasn’t been anything as in depth as Warhead that provides a 360 view of the experience and process for the perpetrator, the victim, the family , and the investigators. As someone who has been affected and has been seeking understanding for two years now, I’m so grateful for this NYT coverage but especially for this reference to Warhead.
In 2014 I married my husband whose wife and mother of his children had died of cancer in 2008. When we married his daughter was 15, and son was 12. I had a daughter starting college and a 7 yr old daughter. One night Our son ran into our room and woke me saying he was talking to a girl on fb on his iPod and she was blackmailing him for pictures, saying she’d post the nudes he sent “on his moms FB” if he didn’t send more nudes of himself ( he wasn’t even old enough to have his own fb). I looked at this “ girls” FB profile and to my adult eyes, it was fake. I called the police the next day and was told about the dangers of online predators. We discussed this in depth with him and monitored his online use, he had a flip phone until HS. He was a busy kid, straight A student, loved band, passionate about football and track. Fast forward to 2018 and we learn he has 500 pictures of child sexual abuse on his school laptop server. We learned he’d also managed to secretly take pictures of our older daughters he “traded” online.He was charged with 2 felonies and moved out of our home, to protect my 10 yr old. I saw horrific pictures sent to him through an underground chat group, babies, kids under 12. There was correspondence with strangers where they were instructing him to go into my 9 yr old’s room while she slept. I saw messages he sent younger girls telling them to take pictures and send them to him. Tragically He is now being investigated for sexually abusing my youngest.
As a mother of 3 girls, this series touched close to home. I can’t imagine what I would do if anything like this happened to one of my daughters, let alone having to tell her the images are unable to be erased from the internet. I appreciate being informed about this, but want to do more. I want to know how I can get involved on legislating change.
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I was once preyed upon as a child in a chatroom in the late 90's. Stories like this absolutely enrage me to my core. How dare the tech companies turn a blind eye to overwhelming numbers of child abuse photos in the name of turning a quarterly profit! This is an dark avalanche of epic repercussions that has no end in sight. Thank you for continuing to cover this topic--it should not be ignored nor buried.
If there was one issue that could unite our government, it should be coming together to resolve this issue and protect the sanctity of childhood innocence.
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I want to know how men get so disordered that this abuse
exists.
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Thank you for this jaw-dropping investigative reporting. After listening to Part 1 yesterday, I woke with nightmares. Perhaps again tonight. Bless these precious, innocent children who have no voice to protect themselves. And shame on the tech giants who have yet to prioritize their safety. I am writing to my congresswoman Diana DeGette.
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Thank you for bringing this very, very disturbing epidemic to light. It disgusts me to no end that this occurs to innocent children and these tech giants are doing zero, minus FB, though that will soon end, to stop this menace. It breaks my heart to listen to this podcast. These are the children of our future. If not us, then who? We are failing our children. I wish this podcast presented some steps that we can take as listeners to appeal to Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. Mr. Gates, you have kids, do something!
This WILL live in perpetuity.
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What can we do??? Can the NYT or someone share resources on how to organize/raise awareness/ pressure the tech companies and govt to act?
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Zero tolerance. There is no place in society for these deplorable deviants.
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I was sexually abused as a child. I am thankful the technology wasn’t available to post pictures and videos. I don’t understand why this family can’t sue the providers to take their child’s image down. I desperately hope your story drives some sort of action. Thank you
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This series touched my heart and enraged me. That tech companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Dropbox continue to prioritize privacy and profitability before child safety frustrates me. What can the average American do to pressure these companies to do something now??
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I think a more accurate representation of the sole priority for Facebook, a pioneer in the surveillance economy worth billions, is money.
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What do we do about this?!? It’s so disturbing and one of the top worthwhile cause of our time. Please tell me who to support and how to help.
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I guess my question is: what percentage of men (presumably) are pedophiles? Isn’t it probably the case that individuals in these tech companies are discouraging taking measures that would protect victims because they themselves are abusers of some sort? This piece is good- devastating and interesting- but the tip of an iceberg that we may all be afraid to look at honestly.
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The market for child pornography is out there. Five studies show that at least 1 in 5 men is sexually attracted to young children. So at least 18 million men here in the U.S. I wonder if pedophiles who may not act act out find it easy to get their needs met via the internet. Studies include:
Briere and Runtz (1989), Smiljanich and Briere, J. (1996), Freund and Costell (1970), Hall, Hirschman, and Oliver (1995), Nagayama, Hirschman and Oliver (1995)
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I was considering canceling my nyt subscription just a couple of weeks ago but stories like this remind me why I support this organization. Incredible reporting on a story that couldn't possibly be more urgently important. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the public.
I'm sitting here feeling helpless asking myself, what can we do? What could be more evil? How do we stop this?
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