19 h. ago ‘I didn’t eat or sleep’: a Meta moderator on his breakdown after seeing beheadings and child abuse

Solomon says the scale and depravity of what he was exposed to was far darker than he had ever imaginedMeta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderatorsWhen Solomon* strode into the gleaming Octagon tower in Accra, Ghana, for his first day as a Meta content moderator, he was bracing himself for difficult but fulfilling work, purging social media of harmful content.But after just two weeks of training, the scale and depravity of what he was exposed to was far darker than he ever imagined. Continue reading...

Events

19 h. ago Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators

Workers at contractor in Accra say they have suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of their workMeta is facing a second set of lawsuits in Africa over the psychological distress experienced by content moderators employed to take down disturbing social media content including depictions of murders, extreme violence and child sexual abuse.Lawyers are gearing up for court action against a company contracted by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, after meeting moderators at a facility in Ghana that is understood to employ about 150 people. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Pope Francis' coffin to be closed by disgraced cardinal who covered up child sex abuse scandal

Roger Michael Mahony was stripped of all his administrative and public duties in Los Angeles by his successor in 2013.

Events

4 d. ago Parents 'planned to sexually abuse baby before she was born' as 'disturbing texts' exposed

Skyler Klassen, 22, and Madison Bishop, 21, were arrested after officers allegedly discovered child sex abuse material on Klassen's phone.

Events

4 d. ago ‘Where is the adult?’: how Leonardo Van Dijl filmed the story of a child tennis star’s abuse

Julie Keeps Quiet casts real-life tennis ace Tessa Van den Broeck as a teenage player facing peril ignored by adults. The director explains how telling the story well required a care the sport itself neglectsLeonardo Van Dijl smiles: “If you told me a year ago that I’d be speaking to the Guardian, I’d have asked: ‘What about?’” Last May, the 34-year-old from Belgium took his debut film Julie Keeps Quiet to Cannes. (Where, he says, everyone was much friendlier after a four-star review in the Guardian.) Ever since, he has been living out of a suitcase, grabbing five or six hours’ sleep. It’s not just media interviews and Q&As keeping him busy: “We are a small movie. I’m the in-house graphic designer. I do the social media ” He stops, looks down at my phone, recording. “But I don’t really want to talk about that. I’m grateful, and it’s not that interesting.”What Van Dijl really does want to talk about is the urgent issue his film raises about safe spaces for children. Julie Keeps Q...

Events

4 d. ago Parents accused of planning to sexually abuse infant 'sent disturbing texts to each other'

WARNING - DISTURBING CONTENT: Skyler Klassen, 22, and Madison Bishop, 21, were both arrested on suspicion of child sex assault after police allegedly found child sex abuse material on the man's phone

Events

5 d. ago AI images of child sexual abuse getting ‘significantly more realistic’, says watchdog

Internet Watch Foundation report shows 380% increase in illegal AI-generated imagery in 2024, most of it ‘category A’Images of child sexual abuse created by artificial intelligence are becoming “significantly more realistic”, according to an online safety watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said advances in AI are being reflected in illegal content created and consumed by paedophiles, saying: “In 2024, the quality of AI-generated videos improved exponentially, and all types of AI imagery assessed appeared significantly more realistic as the technology developed.” Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago ‘Record levels of web pages hosting child sex abuse imagery discovered in 2024’

The Internet Watch Foundation has announced it will offer a new safety tool to smaller sites for free to help fight online harms.

Events

5 d. ago Church of England vicar admits possessing child sex abuse and extreme porn images

The vicar admitted child sex offences following a raid on his cottage

Events

5 d. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Pope Francis’s papacy

Issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominated his trips abroadPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Francis’s papacy

Issue dogged Francis throughout his time as head of Catholic church, with abuse survivors saying he failed to do enoughPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Liberal crusade that made Francis the most controversial Pope of modern times... and sparked pandemonium among conservatives

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 12, he developed a crush on a girl called Amalia. Their parents disapproved, but Jorge went ahead and proposed anyway.

Events

6 d. ago How romantic rejection at 12 forged the most controversial Pope of modern times

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 12, he developed a crush on a girl called Amalia. Their parents disapproved, but Jorge went ahead and proposed anyway.

Politics

7 d. ago The bishop who brought down the Archibishop of Canterbury reveals how she 'looked into the abyss' of child abuse in the church

Justin Welby had few words when a 2024 report blamed the Church of England for masking decades of child abuse. Only one bishop was brave enough to speak out

Events

7 d. ago 'There was a wall of silence': The bishop who brought down the Archbishop of Canterbury reveals how she 'looked into the abyss' of child abuse in the Church

Justin Welby had few words when a 2024 report blamed the Church of England for masking decades of child abuse. Only one bishop was brave enough to speak out

Events

8 d. ago The New Pornographers drummer charged over child sex abuse pictures as band speak out

The New Pornographers drummer, Joseph Seiders, has been charged with possessing child sex abuse images with the band saying they are 'absolutely shocked' by the news

Events

8 d. ago The Bishop of Newcastle reveals whether we can trust the Church of England to keep us safe

Justin Welby had few words when a 2024 report blamed the Church of England for masking decades of child abuse. Only one bishop was brave enough to speak out

Politics

9 d. ago New Pornographers drummer arrested over child sexual abuse images

Musician Joe Seiders is in custody after reports of a man behaving suspiciously around underage boys at a restaurant in Palm Desert, California

Events

9 d. ago Drummer for indie rockers the New Pornographers arrested over child sexual abuse images

Joe Seiders in custody following search of home, vehicle and phone, after allegedly attempting to film child in California restaurant restroomJoe Seiders, the American drummer with Canadian indie rockers the New Pornographers, has been arrested for possession of child sexual abuse imagery.A statement made by the sheriff’s office of Riverside county, California, alleged that evidence has implicated Seiders in two incidents. On Monday 7 April, an 11-year-old boy reported that a man attempted to film him in a restroom of a fast food restaurant, and on Wednesday 9 April, police officers received another report from the restaurant, that a man was “entering and exiting the restroom with juvenile males at the business”. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Woman who accused Jesse Lingard's grandfather of historic child sex abuse is 'making him out to be an ogre', he tells court

Kenneth Lingard, 86, denied the complainant's allegation that he had conducted a 15 year campaign of abuse when she was between five and 19 years old.

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