X’s Fight Against Online Exploitation: Safeguarding the Digital Playground for Everyone

After Twitter morphed into X, several changes were put into place. While some attracted criticism, a few have been laudable. In an announcement made on Thursday, X said that from January to November 2023, X permanently suspended a staggering 11 million accounts for violating CSE (child sexual exploitation) policies. To put this into perspective, Twitter suspended 2.3 million accounts throughout the entire year of 2022. In the first half of 2023 alone, X submitted 430,000 reports to the NCMEC CyberTipline—surpassing Twitter’s 98,000 reports for the entire year of 2022.

But the strides made by X go beyond sheer numbers. Proactive measures are in place to reduce the discoverability of harmful content. One recent implementation has slashed successful searches for known Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) patterns by over 99% since December 2022.

X’s vigilance doesn’t stop there. Ongoing reviews and enhancements to combat online child sexual exploitation demonstrate the platform’s dedication. Increased investment has yielded measurable results, including a 10x surge in manually-submitted NCMEC reports since April 2023.

Looking ahead to 2024, X remains committed to its critical mission. The platform will continue to invest heavily in combating child sexual exploitation, expanding efforts to educate users on the importance of contributing to this vital cause. X envisions a future where freedom of expression coexists seamlessly with user safety, and they encourage users to report suspicious behavior, educate themselves and others, support organizations fighting child exploitation, and remain vigilant on social media. Together, we can make X a secure haven for all.