First Federal Charges Held Against AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
Federal prosecutors charged a man in Wisconsin for allegedly using a well-known AI image generator to create thousands of explicit images of children.
This case marks one of the first federal charges for creating child sexual abuse material using solely AI-generated images. We are glad that our laws are beginning to criminalize AI-generated content, we just hope they can keep up the pace.
At the beginning of this year, we predicted that AI posed the greatest threat to kids online. Unfortunately, we might have been correct. There’s not a solid solution to this growing issue yet, but our post on Deepfakes and AI offers families 15 practical steps they can take to keep their families safe: bit.ly
“Peek” – Meta’s Take On Disappearing Pictures
Meta is teasing another copycat feature borrowed from competitors. This time, taking from SnapChat and BeReal, Instagram is soon launching “peek” which allows users to send authentic (quick) images that can only be viewed “once.”
Images that disappear have obvious risks, which Snapchat has shown since its inception. Especially with amazing, impulsive young brains.
Meta has nutidy-detecting technology that it could deploy with this feature. And we will be watching to see if it’s used. “Peek” makes us nervous. We will be keeping a close eye on this feature and alert you if it’s released.
Content on Reddit will Train AI
Reddit made a deal with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, to use its content to train AI.
This means that ALL the content on Reddit is able to teach and train AI. Reddit is notorious for hosting some of the worst parts of the internet.
Thousands of groups, called subreddits, contain information and content on just about anything. Pornography, graphic, hateful, violent, illegal, and vulgar content.
What’s missing from this announcement is what both Reddit and ChatGPT will do to ensure this relationship doesn’t contribute to the sharing and scaling of horrific, illegal, child sexual abuse material. You can read our full Reddit review: bit.ly
Leaders from Generation Z Step Up
Jon Haidt, the author of The Anxious Generation, highlights seven Gen Z leaders who are organizing, writing, and protesting against harms caused by the “phone-based childhood.”
Trisha Prabhu (ReThink), Sam Hiner & Ava Smithing (Young People’s Alliance), Larissa May (#HalfTheStory), Freya India (writer at GIRLS, Quillette, and the After Babel Substack), Maddie Freeman (NoSo November), and Ben Spaloss (Live and Help Live).
Chris spoke alongside Larz at the 2024 World Economic Forum.
These impeccable young leaders are paving a future of digital well-being. From anti-cyberbullying campaigns, social media addiction recovery, advocating for legislation, mental health and suicide prevention services, exposure of the over-sexualization of women online, and efforts to reduce screen time – these awesome humans are all creating safer digital spaces for everyone!
Phones in Class Cause High School Teacher to Quit
“Mitchell Rutherford has taught biology at a public high school for 11 years. He’s quitting after this semester because he’s tired of trying to engage students who are lost in their phones.”
I’ve been talking to principals and school staff about technology for nine years. But the phone calls I receive right now are more frustrated.
School leadership is exhausted starting each school day one step behind where they ended the previous day.
One step behind where they were the day before capturing the hearts and minds of their students.
Because the 17 hours of the day the school doesn’t control – from 3pm to 8am at home – too many kids spend too much time online. And schools can’t overcome that.
The article points towards two additional problems: (1) schools without courageous, clear, effective policies related to smartphones during the school day (gone bell-to-bell), and (2) parents who allow their children to use devices at school without monitoring (and they text them all day).
According to Mitchell Rutherford, the school’s policy says phones shouldn’t be out during class, but enforcement is left to teachers.
“I would walk up to kids and say, ‘Give me your phone,’ and they would clutch it, and I would say that’s what an alcoholic would do if you tried to take away their bottle,” he says.
If you’re a parent, teacher, or school counselor who wants to help school leaders understand the research behind distraction, visit phonefreeschools.com.
Social Media Profits off of Child Sexual Abuse Material
(Excerpts from article) “Social media is housing an online underworld where young girls’ photos and videos are being “exploited” and consumed by men.
Often the girls are child influencers – or “kidfluencers” – who are using social media for innocent reasons, like showing off their dancing skills or trying to secure brand deals.
But some of their accounts are being targeted by strangers who lust over them, make sexual comments on their pages and sometimes even download their images, exchanging them on other social media sites.
In the worst cases, children’s photos are being downloaded and transformed into pornographic deepfakes, then uploaded into private chat forums.”
Alberta Schools Pass Phone Restriction Resolution
The Alberta Teachers Association, which represents 98% of the 50,000 principals and teachers across all schools in the province, has passed a resolution that restricts smartphones in classrooms during instructional time for students in 7th grade and up.
This effort was led by Dr. Phil McRae, Executive Staff Officer and Associate Coordinator, Government-Research with the Alberta Teachers’ Association. Chris spoke alongside Dr. McRae in multiple panels at the 2024 World Economic Forum, cheering for his efforts.
Other provinces within Canada are considering similar actions as phones in classrooms continue to be a rising issue.
To learn more about how YOU can talk to your local school district, visit phonefreeschools.com.
“Chris, help! We have a tech emergency!”
That’s why we created The Table, our PYE membership where you can get immediate, emergency help, ask basic tech questions in our Tech Support space, become a specialist in YouTube setup, pornography education, or compulsive gaming, and interact with other, like-minded parents. Abby is there to take care of you! Join for 7 days free, try it out, and then stick around for $7/month or $70 for the year. I can’t wait to meet you at The Table!
