The search giant is working on a new plan that would help to wipe child porn from the web. The upcoming technology will allow websites, law enforcement agencies, and charities to build a collective database of abusive imagery that should be hidden and removed, according to The Telegraph, which has been briefed on the plan. These groups have already been identifying and blocking abusive content individually, but so far there’s been no easy way for each group’s knowledge to be shared. Google’s new plan simply creates an open database, allowing any group to easily contribute its findings.
The plan comes on the heels of recent pressure by British politicians for Google and other search engines to step up their filtering. Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron asked that web giants “use their extraordinary technical abilities to do more to root out these disgusting images,” reports The Telegraph. Google already blocks abusive content automatically by using a pattern recognition technology that it developed back in 2008, and following the call-to-action, it’s hoping to augment that with the help of third-parties. As part of its plan, Google is reportedly setting up a $2 million fund to help independent software developers create new tech to identify and hide child porn across the web.
source: The Verge
