I created the Musings Category so that I can include shorter articles in my postings. When I have enough topics for a posting I combine them together in the form of a Randy’s Musings Article. For the most part the postings are just random articles.

Table of Contents

-Monetization based on clicks

-Censorship by social network platforms

-Controlling searches on engines–by lowering priority for conservative right postings

-Controlling what appears on your social media sites

-The dark web

-Child pornography

-Bullying on the internet

-Fake News

-Fact Checking

Monetization based on clicks

“Monetization based on clicks” refers to a digital advertising model where a website or content creator earns money each time a user clicks on an ad displayed on their platform, commonly known as “pay-per-click” (PPC). 

Key points about click-based monetization:

• How it works:Advertisers bid on keywords relevant to their target audience, and when a user searches for those keywords, their ad may appear on a website or search engine results page. If a user clicks on the ad, the advertiser pays the website owner a small fee for that click. 
• Common platforms:Google Ads is the most prominent example of a PPC platform, allowing website owners to display ads on their pages and earn revenue based on clicks. 
• Benefits for website owners:
  • Easy to implement: Integrating ad codes from platforms like Google AdSense is relatively straightforward. 
  • Potential for high revenue: If a website receives a large volume of clicks on relevant ads, it can generate significant income. 
• Challenges for website owners:
  • Click baiting: May incentivize creating content designed to generate clicks rather than valuable information. 
  • Low click-through rates: If ads are not well-targeted or relevant to the content, users may not click on them. 

Website monetization is the process of converting existing traffic being sent to a particular website into revenue. The most popular ways of monetizing a website are by implementing pay per click (PPC) and cost per impression (CPI/CPM) advertising. Various ad networks facilitate a webmaster in placing advertisements on pages of the website to benefit from the traffic the site is experiencing.

The two most important metrics that matter to a web publisher looking to monetize their site is “Fill Rate”, or the % of inventory where ads can be shown by a partner advertising network, and eCPM, which is the effective cost per thousand impression dollar amount that is paid out to the publisher for showing ads to their audience.

Additionally, aside from typical ad display and various advertising generated revenue, some webmasters or site owners utilize Lead Generation to monetize Internet traffic to a website by creating leads or inquiries from submission forms or phone calls from interested consumers and then delivering those leads to a business seeking that type of inquiry.

Pay per click advertising

Pay per click or PPC (also called Cost per click) is a marketing strategy put in place by search engines and various advertising networks such as Google Ads, where an advertisement, usually targeted by keywords or general topic, is placed on a relevant website or within search engine results. The advertiser then pays for every click that is made on the advertisement. This paid click activity fuels many revenue generating programs such as Google AdSense.

Cost per impression advertising

Cost per impression (also called cost per mille) is a marketing strategy put in place by various advertising networks, where an advert is placed on a relevant website, usually targeted to the content sector of that site. The advertiser then pays for every time the advert is displayed to a user. Most system will use a method known as cost per thousand impressions. If a website publisher charges $4.00 CPM, the advertiser is paying $4.00 for every 1,000 ad impressions (each time the ad is shown 1,000 times).

Banner advertising

Banner advertising consists of placing a graphical banner advertisement on a webpage. The role of this banner is to catch the eye of incoming traffic to the page, enticing readers to click the advertisement. This form of monetization is implemented by both affiliate programs and advertising networks. Banners originally just referred to advertisements of 468 x 60 pixels, but the term is now widely used to refer to all sizes of display advertising on the internet.

Banner ad types

Banner ads come in various shapes and sizes and are sized according to pixel dimensions. Typical banner sizes include:

• Leaderboard 728 x 90
• Banner 468 x 60
• Skyscraper 120 x 600
• Top cube, NTV (next to video), IM (instant message) are widely used in 300×250 format
• Wide Skyscraper 160 x 600

Various Banner Ad Networks : BuySellAds.com, Blogads “BING ads by Microsoft”,

Affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are another popular way of monetizing existing website traffic. By joining a business’ affiliate program, any searches for products within that business’ catalog may earn affiliates a commission on each sale that was originally referred through their website.

Data monetization

Websites also generate valuable user data that can be monetized through various methods. Data generated by websites about their users can range from being demographics to in-market data (e.g. in-market for a car). This data can be sold through behavioral data exchanges and used by advertisers to target their online media campaigns. Websites can also generate revenue from their newsletter and on-site registrations programs by finding companies who are eager to reach the newsletters subscriber base. Another method of monetizing data is through the use of a surveywall instead of a paywall, asking users to take a short survey, rather than paying the website directly. The website is then paid by the surveywall operator (such as Survata).

Paid subscriptions

Paid membership or ‘continuity’ programs are another way to monetize existing traffic. Examples of media membership sites are the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. In the gaming world, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft has millions of members. However, there are many other kinds of member sites that cover niche markets. Often people join to get access to content and expertise, or for community, such as discussion or bulletin boards. The term “continuity” is used because the goal is to develop income continuity. Instead of making a one-time sale of a product or service, the membership site brings new, repeated income every month. Besides news, other kinds of membership site include: health, fitness, marketing, copy writing, social media expertise, paper products, dating, paper crafting, scrap booking, coaching, writing and many other applications.

Experts in the membership site field say that “people come for content and stay for community.” The challenge of a member site is to retain paying members. Some sites, like the New York Times, offers some content free and then charges a fee for more in-depth access, or access to special kinds of content. Some sites offer downloads of audio or video content, free graphics, free software that is only available to members with a Creative Market. Many sites also offer webinars to members. The webinars are often recorded as video, audio and also transcribed, creating more special content that is behind the pay wall.

Fees for membership vary widely. They can be billed monthly, annually, or even lifetime memberships. The digital access to the website is sometimes sold as part of a combination package that also includes physical product. For example, the Wall Street Journal offers a combination paper subscription, which is delivered to the subscriber’s door, combined with access to the website and the smartphone app versions of the paper for about $140. Another site that sells membership to large corporations in the mobile phone industry, charges up to $12,000.00 a year for membership, which gives tech employees the right to pay to attend conferences on different aspects of the technology of cellular phones, and to access, on the website, recordings of past meetings. Business sites may offer a special information package, perhaps CDs or DVDs shipped to the new member as part of a package that includes membership.

Affiliate marketing is sometimes used to build membership in membership sites. Some sites continue to pay a percentage to the referring affiliate as long as the member continues paying monthly fees. Others pay a larger up-front fee. The page that marketers use a marketing or social media “funnel” to bring potential new paying members to is called a “squeeze” page.

Making Money With Pay Per Click

Making money with your website is definitely possible. There are a number of different ways that you can make money, but the easiest is through the pay-per-click model.

Common providers of PPC services include:

• Google Adsense
• Ezoic
• Monumetric
• Mediavine

We’re going to continue by talking more about Google AdSense, not because it’s necessarily the best PPC ad network, but because it’s the most well known and biggest ad network on the Internet.

With PPC advertising, ads will be displayed on your website and you will be paid whenever someone clicks on them. Companies are paying Google (and other PPC ad network providers) to advertise through their ad network. Google then automatically chooses relevant sites within their network on which to place their ads: this could be your website.

The ads that Google will display on your website will depend on a variety of different factors and will fluctuate depending on the industry and topic of the page. Lets take a closer look at PPC.

Why Is PPC So Popular?

Getting paid per click is the most popular way to generate money from your blog. The reason for this is because you don’t ever need to go look for advertisers or negotiate directly with companies looking to spend money on advertising. Google does all that for you.

Google has the most popular PPC program out there called Google Adsense. This program allows publishers, bloggers, and owners of any website to insert a little bit of html code on their website, and have ads displayed to their website’s visitors.

It’s extremely easy to setup when you’ve already got a WordPress website, and that means you can start making money right away.

How Much Money Can I Expect To Make With Google Ads?

That depends on a number of factors. Google will pay you per click. The more visitors you have the more chances there is of someone clicking on an ad, so once you’ve got ads set up on your site, your next goal will be bringing in more visitors. Also, depending on what ad is being displayed you will receive a different amount.

Honestly, we’ve seen sites that have made about 1 or 2 cents per click, and we’ve had sites that made well over 6 or 7 dollars per click. For most blog or news sites, you could probably expect to see anywhere from $0.10 to $1 per click.

So now you can see why you’d want to increase your readership and viewers – the more eyeballs on the blog, the more people will click on your ads.

Website Performance Caveat

One detail to watch out for when picking a PPC provider is the number of external requests they make to load their ads. Lots of external requests, and in particular ones that include multiple redirects of their own, can cause slow page load times.

Sadly Google Adsense is known to have some of the slowest external requests, whereas Monumetric is mid-range, and Mediavine is known to be the best for having as minimal an impact on website speed as possible with an ad network.

Ezoic used to be in the poor performance category, however they’ve made efforts recently (2022) to reduce redirects and improve their ad loading performance. However keep in mind that loading dozens of external requests is always going to be slower than, well, not doing that.

Why does Google want to pay me for this?

This is a common question when first getting started – how and why does Google simply pay you for all this? Let’s take an example.

Steven runs a local pizza shop. He’s looking to increase his brand awareness and wants to invest a little money into online Advertising. He turns to Google to setup an ad campaign through the Google Ads (formerly adwords) service. Steven creates an image ad and a text ad and submits them to the Google network. For argument sake, lets assume Steven decides to spend $1 per click.

His ads now run all across the Internet on websites that are somewhat related to food, pizza, local dining, or whatever else he wants to target.

Now Donna is a food and healthy living blogger who shares her personal stories and recipes. She recently added Google Adsense to her website so that Google can display ads.

Transparent to both Steven and Donna, Google searches for the best locations to place Steven’s ad. In this case, Donna’s website is one of those locations. Now when someone visits Donna’s blog they are served an ad for Steven’s local pizza shop. If someone clicks on that ad, Donna receives a percentage of that $1 that Steven agreed to pay. The split is close to 50/50, so in this case lets assume that Donna gets $0.50 for that click and Google keeps the other $0.50.

Clear as mud? There’s no sense in overthinking the internal workings of the Adsense program. Just know that it’s a very easy way to get paid for having a website that gets traffic.

clickkbait ads have no place in publishers’ monetization strategy

When the sole motive is profit, publishers fail. Clickbait creative may generate short-term revenue, but it sharply degrades user experience. When publishers put consumers at the center of their monetization strategy, revenue follows.

Digital publishers must recognize that user protection and user experience go hand in hand and act on the sizable gaps left in both. We define clickbait as creative engineered to intentionally elicit clicks through manipulation and psychological engineering via sensationalist text or imagery. With 85% of the ads served today delivered through programmatic channels, entry points are exploitable enough that 56% of publishers now regularly face clickbait ads on their sites.

When confronted with clickbait campaigns, users won’t hesitate to write off a publisher’s brand. Audiences will bounce from the site or avoid clickbait. So, even short of full scale audience alienation, clickbait damages the site’s metrics, which will discourage high-quality advertisers from buying inventory, and ultimately sinking CPMs and overall revenue. GeoEdge research revealed that in 2021 over three-fourths of publishers’ sites user experience was harmed by poor ad quality and 66% reported bad ads impacted their bottom line.

Securing landing pages from scams

Rooting out clickbait requires close scrutiny that goes beyond just the creative. The greatest risk to user protection is often found on an ad’s landing page. Once a user clicks on a salacious creative, they are often tossed to an entirely unrelated landing page that might be pushing a range of scams from investment schemes and counterfeit products to miracle cure products and services. Recent GeoEdge research in collaboration with Wizzco revealed that 81% of publishers are concerned that poor ad quality may cost them their users. Publishers agreed that quality pertains to ads and landing pages alike, with 65% stating that ad content and landing page safety are equally important.

While there is a range of intermediaries along the supply chain between advertisers and end-users, keeping a page clean of clickbait ads is a publisher’s responsibility. A user-first approach to monetization requires that publishers own all touchpoints with their audiences, from the editorial content to the ad content and all accompanying landing pages. Publishers can implement technology to tackle the three leading clickbait cases including:

1. Financial scams use deceptive tactics to take advantage of financial products and services, including cryptocurrency and other investment opportunities.
2. Misleading product offers typically include listings of unverified products and services promising miracle cures and results most commonly falling under health and wellness.
3. Brand infringement offers well-disguised counterfeit versions of trusted goods by impersonating brands or businesses, advertising them at low-cost prices.

The future of publisher monetization

Every publisher maintains different standards for brand-suitable advertising, but the threshold for user protection is not subjective. Publishers’ primary purpose is to deliver valuable content to audiences. Therefore, the same attention must be put into curating ad experiences as into editorial content. Building a holistic user experience enables you to achieve meaningful, relevant engagement and increase user lifetime value.

It can be easy to overlook all of the places that users interact with your brand, so securing every touchpoint is crucial to a successful user-first approach to monetization. Enforcing user protection standards requires real-time technology to ensure landing page content, and ad content meets publisher standards.

It’s up to publishers to implement a user-first approach, educate their teams about the risks of clickbait ads, and find the right partnership to provide transparency in a complex supply chain.

The value of the trust relationship between the publisher and the user cannot be overlooked.

The strength of this foundation is what determines publishers’ long-term profitability.

Trust is elusive of a simple measurement. However, publishers must begin to recognize the cost of negative ad experiences. While the long-term future of publisher monetization is programmatic, we must be careful not to sacrifice audience loyalty in favor of short-term revenue.

The Clickbait Economy: Consequences of Monetising Attention

Clickbait or attention monetization consists of attention-grabbing statements that lure users into clicking on normally uninteresting content. This intended knee-jerk reaction allows media companies to monetize their content via online advertisements. What they may not realirealizese is that this strategy is manufacturing distrust in the market. It’s important to understand that these actions are incompatible with the underlying premise behind integrity – that words ought to match up with actions. While having monetismonetizeded attention itself, the clickbait economy is slowly killing its consumer base through slight deviations from the truth.

The user-dissonance elicited by articles that toe the line of truth with names such as ‘What happened next shocked the world’ or ‘The worst thing ever seen in MMA’ or ‘The nightmare that haunts the NBA’ is causing many users to become disenchanted with traditionally followed media brands. This consumer embitterment is a result of in congruence between the potency of statements and the corresponding discordant events.

Even more alarming, is the power of these social media algorithms to learn, understand, predict, and exploit consumer behavior. These algorithms are designed to exploit vulnerabilities in human psychology through the strong link that they create between notifications and social reward. By continually rewarding your social interactions, the network takes hold of your attention and continues to refine the content that they expose to you. The click bate economy was founded on the grounds that your reactions to more potently worded content would be stronger and more frequent than those via standard objective wording.

We’ve seen this trend progress onto our TV screens, with 6 minute segments of political discourse between individuals with strongly opposing views becoming the norm. In such cases, the general result is some kind of ad hominem siege, as 6 minutes is simply not enough time to accurately present your views. Further, this tactic is intellectually lazy, but it is what the system rewards. For instance, it’s not so dissimilar to limiting a 12-round boxing match to single-round match with knockout as the only means of winning. Initially this may elicit strong engagement, but users become quickly dissatisfied when these segments come to an abrupt holt, repeatedly sounding the words “sorry, but we’re out of time”.

Thankfully we operate in a free-market economy and therefore, the user can decide where they spend their time. As a consequence, long-form media is beginning to be selected for – YouTube channels such as the Joe Rogan Experience are receiving significantly more attention than conventional news channels CNN and FOX. This is likely a function of individual differences in goal orientation – long-form media appears to be more focused on meaningful dialogue as opposed to 6-minute warfare.

The evolution of long-form media and the slow but inevitable death of mainstream media comes back to the ideas of truth, integrity, and delayed gratification. Telling the truth may not make you attractive in the short-term, but if you can weather the storm and expand to platforms that allow for more long-form discussion, then you may develop a consumer base that trusts you. In an economy absent of consumer loyalty, there lies a huge opportunity to build clusters of advocates who are ready to freely disseminate positive information in the promotion of your company. 

The True Cost Of Clickbait

For centuries, media outlets have done whatever it takes to get people’s attention. From the newsboys of yore crying “Extra! Extra!” to today’s splashy front-page headlines and “tonight, at 11” teases, publishers have always known they can’t survive if nobody’s watching them.

While this dynamic hasn’t changed with the advent of the Internet, the method by which publishers are rewarded for grabbing people’s attention has.

Whereas a print publication can get people to purchase an entire newspaper with a couple of juicy headlines and a well-curated crossword section, the central currency of web publishing is the pageview, a direct measure of how many people clicked on an individual story and an indirect measure of how many ads the publisher can show its audience.

The result is that rather than having the luxury of filling pages with news briefs and town council reports, these media outlets can now only maximize revenues online by presenting every single story to readers in a way that will make them choose to spend their time with it instead of any of the other things that come down the pike in their Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Publishers have always known they can’t survive if nobody’s watching them.

Out of this overcrowded media landscape came “clickbait,” the process by which web publishers began using headlines to promote something “amazing” or “epic” that “you won’t believe” to lure people to click on their stories — regardless of whether the contents of the story were actually any good.

While everyone has his or her own definition of the term, one thing’s for sure: you don’t have to look hard to find it on the web these days.

“It’s a hyper-competitive environment, so websites have to gather eyes and hold them,” said Dr. Mark Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University and the author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30). “We had a lot of junk in the old print days, but on the web, it is just so much, and it is piling forth nonstop.”

Of course, simply classifying clickbait as “junk” is perhaps not the best way to think about it. Rather than a judgment about the quality or the substance of a piece of content, the digital publishing industry seems to have coalesced on a definition that focuses more on whether the content’s packaging on social media and search engines match what people will see when they click the link.

As Business Insider’s copy chief Daniel McMahon succinctly put it to me: “Clickbait is anything that disappoints the reader.”

While viral news sites like Upworthy and BuzzFeed are often tagged with the clickbait label for devoting coverage to social-media friendly topics like cat photos and emotional videos, the truth is that clickbait is in the eye of the beholder.

If clicking on this BuzzFeed story featuring a video of a homeless dog being rescued really does restore your faith in humanity, then it is not clickbait. But if you’re still bummed out about people on account of the “Relatives Of Boston Terror Suspect View Footage Of Deadly Shooting” story linked lower on the page, then perhaps BuzzFeed has over-promised and you’ve been misled.

While “restore your faith in humanity”-style headlines can generate a bunch of clicks very quickly, publishers need to be careful that the content lives up to the hype. Otherwise, they can run the risk of eroding reader trust and persuading people to avoid their links the next time they see them on Facebook.

“Readers are savvy, and they know when they’re being tricked,” said Refinery29 senior content strategist Jessica Novak. “[Clickbait] is not sustainable because you’re ultimately going to lose your reader. She’s not going to trust you anymore. Especially with the Millennial audience, where we focus pretty heavily, trust is so important.”

The negative ramifications of clickbait can also be felt by brands running native advertising campaigns. Unlike traditional publishers who make money every time someone clicks on one of their links, many consumer brands pay for distribution on a cost-per-click model.

Publishers need to be careful that the content lives up to the hype.

Rather than profiting the moment people click on a piece of content, brand publishers can only succeed when their content delivers on the headline’s promise and entices the user to spend more time with the story and develop a positive opinion of the brand that created it.

A 2013 study from Chartbeat found that people who spend a long time engaged with a story become likelier to return to the site a second time, and a BuzzFeed case study found that visitors who were exposed to content sponsored by Virgin Mobile between five and nine times were 278% more likely to consider the company when it was time for them to buy their next phone than those who had not seen the content at all.

Together, these two data points show that the recipe for successful native advertising lies not in deceptively luring people’s attention but in keeping that attention with quality content.

Conversely, branded clickbait can lead to some rather negative consequences for the native advertiser, said Melinda Staros, the head of research at Sharethrough, the native advertising company that owns and operates this publication. Staros analyzed the more than 4,000 headlines from native ads that ran through Sharethrough’s platform and cross-referenced that with recent neuroscience research to understand which words in headlines draw in readers.

“A well-written headline can color your perception of the content … but when there is no connection between the two, the disappointment is multiplied and the association made with your brand can be extremely negative,” Staros said. “That’s because neuroscience demonstrates native ad messages can impact brand associations.”

So how, then, can brand and media publishers get people’s attention without resorting to the clickbait tactics that will hurt them in the long run?

At Refinery29, the content strategy team A/B tests headlines to see not only whether readers are clicking on them but whether they are spending time on the page and sharing the stories on social media afterward. The publisher also monitors comments and social media feedback, sometimes even changing headlines if readers express that they have been disappointed by what they’ve clicked on.

Even before testing, editors are trained to resist using headlines that are not true to the story, a process that takes a good deal of vigilance.

“It’s tempting to want to run with the one formula that we know readers will click on, but ultimately everyone here is trained to push back if the reader is going to be left disappointed,” Novak said. “It’s really not a positive experience for anyone involved, and we really want to drive the person who is interested in the end content to that story.”

Another company that employs A/B testing is ViralNova, which does so by placing headlines on its homepage before they shared on social media. When a story generates high engagement and share rates, the company is able to tell that it is not misleading and should be shared on its social media channels.

While the viral publisher takes pains to make sure readers don’t feel tricked, CEO Sean Beckner says this doesn’t mean media companies need to write boring headlines.

“There’s nothing wrong with making some fun statements with headlines,” Beckner said. “All of us publishers want people to click on our stories. The good publishers also want readers to engage with the story.”

Indeed, this focus on engagement is a trend that appears to be gathering steam among web publishers. In August 2014, Facebook announced it was tweaking its News Feed algorithm to favor publishers that put out stories that people spent long periods of time reading over those people clicked on and immediately bounced away from.

In addition, Chartbeat product owner Annie Fox says that over the last year or two, she has seen publishers get more serious about increasing viewability, a metric advertisers use to determine whether people actually see the ads they buy. Since people are more likely to see an ad if they’re spending a longer time on the web page it runs on, publishers are working to create stickier content.

Meanwhile, advertisers are also beginning to see the value of engagement time. In fact, the Financial Times recently rolled out a metric that uses Chartbeat’s web analytics tools to charge brands based on engagement time rather than pageviews.

All this has led Fox to believe that brands and publishers are moving away from clickbait in response to an incentive structure that pushes them to create honest, high-quality user experiences.

“You can’t break down the prevailing business model overnight, but the fact that the Financial Times is willing to sell on cost-per-hour rather than just ad impressions is really promising and really exciting,” Fox said. “It means that great content and great content makers will have a chance to thrive and survive.”

Though the scourge of clickbait seems to be on the decline, at least momentarily, it’s up to publishers to make sure this remains the case. At the end of the day, it’s about creating stories people will love and pitching them to people without resorting to false advertising or yellow journalism. Regardless of the short-term spikes in pageviews, the publishers that avoid any sort of headline trickery will likely win out over time.

“As long as your content delivers on what the headline promises, you’ll keep reader trust,” said Upworthy editorial director Amy O’Leary. “Whatever you promise in that headline, you have to not only deliver on but exceed for readers.”

Censorship by social network platforms

What Are the Pros and Cons of Censorship on Social Media?

The impact of social media on the way we express ourselves is truly astonishing, and we’re not even limited to one platform. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter and YouTube, these platforms have different features that allow us to share our ideas and opinions and form online communities.

In a nutshell, social media is an avenue for free speech. However, as more people join the conversation, the clash of ideals and principles leads to debates and arguments. While necessary in discourse, an increasing number of people are spreading hoaxes and propaganda, resulting in polarizing opinions and heated discussions.

As a solution, censorship has been widely implemented to reduce production and consumption of harmful and extremist content. However, there are always two sides to every coin, and censorship is not an exception.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of censorship to better understand its impact on social media platforms.

The Importance of Free Speech on Social Media

In democratic societies, free speech is a constitutional right. Meaning, each individual can express oneself in a way that doesn’t take away other people’s rights. Ideally, the free exchange of ideas, information, and opinions should provide the knowledge to make better societal decisions.

Since democracy cannot exist without free speech, it’s essential to be vigilant about the actions that could potentially disrupt it. While it directly involves social media interactions, possible threats to free speech may also include inconsistent content moderation. But before we delve deeper into this, we must first take on the merits of free speech on social media:

Promoting Diverse Viewpoints

Promoting free speech on social media can create an inclusive community where diverse viewpoints can be heard, accommodating social media users who come from different cultures and backgrounds.

When people are more open to the perspective of others, they can be more empathetic and accepting of their differences. This can lead to more meaningful conversations that could be for a good cause or advocacy.

Encouraging Public Debate

Social media can encourage public debate. Engaging in debates sharpens our ability to think critically, communicate respectfully despite polarizing viewpoints, form camaraderie with like-minded peers, and engage in healthy competition.

Empowering Marginalized Voices

Social media provides a platform for everyone who wants to speak their mind, especially marginalized voices. These include women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+, persons with disabilities, indigenous groups, and those of a lower socio-economic status.

Throughout history, these folks have been oppressed by influential nations and discriminatory groups that spur racism, homophobia, sexism, and microaggressions. With social media, they can call out all forms of discrimination and violence against them. 

Cultivating Creativity

Another benefit of free speech on social media is the promotion of creativity. Users are free to express themselves by publishing blogs, images, and videos that reflect their personalities and ideals. By encouraging creativity, innovative ideas can be born, and artistic collaborations can flourish.

In recent times, short-form content has become increasingly popular on social media with the onset of TikTok. Through this format, users have unlocked their limitless potential to craft creative content that lasts anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds.

Pros: The Case for Censorship

Internet censorship refers to restricting the content viewed or published by an audience within a particular region. For example, several websites and apps are banned in China, including social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

In this case, the state or institution can restrict access to particularly unsafe or sensitive information or online material. Censorship may come in the following forms:

• Blocking or filtering certain websites
• Monitoring online activities of users
• Limiting access to online platforms or services
• Suppressing specific types of content

Organizations believe that by implementing this regulation, the general interest and welfare of their social media users can be safeguarded.

Some of the common benefits of censorship include:

Protecting Users from Harmful Content

One of the main pros of censorship is that it protects users from harmful content they may view while scrolling on their favorite social media app. In particular, content like graphic violence and pornography should be banned on apps to prevent minors from mimicking such acts. Censorship of profanity and offensive language can also help avoid online misconduct, such as hate speech and cyberbullying.

Additionally, it helps combat the ongoing struggle of misinformation. For the younger generation, social media is the most common news source, with Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok becoming the new daily newspapers. However, it was found that fake news can spread ten times faster on these platforms. Censoring false information on social media is necessary to prevent them from circulating and distorting online safety.

Maintaining a Safe Space Online

By censoring inappropriate content and controlling toxic online behavior on social media, users can interact with others without the fear of getting bullied or harassed or running into distressing forms of content.

By putting a limit to what type of material can be shared on social media, people can be more mindful of what they post and how they communicate with fellow users.

Preventing the Spread of Illegal Activities

Illegal content like drugs, weapons, and gambling spread like a wildfire. To restrict access to illicit websites and pages promoting these, certain regions may censor these platforms.

By doing so, social media users won’t fall prey to these illegal activities, and it will also help platforms avoid lawsuits that may result from these unwanted actions.

Cons: The Case Against Censorship

Despite the arguments in favor of censorship, it raises some concerns about stifling freedom of speech and the possible abuse of this power.

Here are some of the potential downsides and dangers of censorship:

Risk of Suppressing Speech and Opinions

One of the primary criticisms in censorship is the possibility of hindering the right of an individual to free speech. When certain topics are censored, it can limit the flow of open dialogue and impede the democratic exchange of dissenting ideas and opinions. Consequently, this can create echo chambers that only tolerate certain perspectives, narrowing the space for constructive arguments.

Moreover, censorship can also limit conversations on social media platforms because people can have different definitions of harmful or unacceptable content. What might be deemed offensive to some may not be disrespectful to others. This can be potentially dangerous to social media, where people come from various cultures and geographic locations.

Potential Abuse of Censorship

Another problem that arises in censorship is the possibility of abuse to silence the opposition, limit access to information, or manipulate narratives to spread propaganda. It can be used to distort the truth and control the people’s perception regarding a political party or historical events. This manipulation of information can influence and shape people’s beliefs to favor a particular agenda.

As a result, opposing opinions can be instantly shunned, creating an online environment where misinformation thrives. 

Impact on Democratic Values

Due to the risk of suppressing speech and opinions, censorship can profoundly impact freedom of expression and democratic values. It can result in ethical dilemmas, such as determining which values or ideologies are acceptable or not.

These subjective biases can also influence what information the public can access and discuss within online communities. When information is suppressed, the narrative that the masses consume is also compromised.

Balancing Free Speech and Censorship

With the pros and cons of censorship laid out, it’s essential for social media companies to balance free speech with the need for censorship.

The first step is investing in effective social media moderation services to enforce strict regulations and review all types of UGC, including status updates, comments, images, reels, and videos that may contain harmful content.

By utilizing content moderation tools, social media moderators can filter keywords and visual content that may not be appropriate for the platform’s audience. These can include profanity, sarcasm, offensive language, nudity, violence, and other inappropriate material.

Some content moderation companies also use artificial intelligence to automate the moderation process. They train algorithms under large datasets to quickly identify toxic content before it is published on the platform. They also allow users to have a proactive role in social media moderation by incorporating user reporting mechanisms to flag non-compliant posts or fake profiles and accounts showing suspicious behavior.

Real-World Examples and Case Studies

There are dozens of accounts of censorship on social media. While controversial, these real-world examples provide a glimpse into the impact of this practice and its complexities.

Twitter Banning Donald Trump

In January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended the account of then-president Donald Trump due to the Capitol Riots that may further incite violence on the platform. This decision sparked intense debate over free speech versus public safety, which some critics cited as political censorship.

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

In 2018, Facebook faced a huge backlash following the Cambridge Analytica controversy, which led to an insurmountable amount of data being harvested without the users’ consent. This incident has led to tighter scrutiny and censorship of political content, with users and regulators demanding more transparency and accountability due to privacy concerns.

YouTube and COVID-19 Misinformation

During the pandemic, YouTube was forced to implement stricter content moderation efforts due to the rapid spread of false information about the virus and the vaccines being given. The videos were subsequently removed but opposing groups viewed it as suppression of dissenting opinions and scientific debate. Supporters, however, saw it as a necessary move for public health.

China’s TikTok Censorship

In 2020, the United States government threatened to ban TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media app, due to concerns over national security and misuse of information. This issue underscored the geopolitical tensions between these two powerful nations and the balance between digital sovereignty and global internet freedom.

The Future of Social Media Free Speech and Censorship

The future of social media moderation is poised to be heavily influenced by emerging technologies like AI and machine learning. Advanced algorithms will enable faster and more accurate detection of harmful content.

Policy changes and regulatory frameworks will also play a crucial role in shaping approaches to censorship on social media. Governments worldwide are likely to implement stricter regulations to curb misinformation and the spread of harmful content while protecting user rights.

Meanwhile, independent bodies could be created to oversee the moderation process and ensure fair judgments. They may impose fines for non-compliance and require mandatory reports from social media platforms.

Understanding Censorship: Exploring Banned Social Media, Content Filtering, and Internet Access Restrictions Worldwide

Social media and communication apps form the core of how people connect, engage, and keep up-to-date in a more connected world. However, it’s not a secret that some governments were more than willing to clamp down on these platforms with reasons such as national security, public order, or cultural preservation. These can bring a great deal of inconvenience to the lives of the residents, as well as travelers, who may be cut off from familiar channels of communication and sharing information. Some of the notable banned social media platforms and apps across different countries around the world are reviewed in the following section.

1. Reddit

• China: Reddit is blocked in China, along with many other social media platforms.
• Iran: Reddit has faced restrictions in Iran, although users may find ways to access it via VPNs.

2. X.com (formerly Twitter)

• Countries China, North Korea, Russia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan.
• Reason: X.com is a real-time communication platform. Because of this, it has been instrumental in organizing protests and getting news items out quickly. For this reason, its use has been blocked by governments that strictly regulate information and freedom of speech.

3. Facebook

• Countries: China, Russia, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan
• Reason: Facebook is one of the biggest social networks in the world, and authoritarian governments see it as a threat because it can help people organize, spread criticism, and share information that the government doesn’t like or approve of.

4. Instagram

• Countries: China, Russia, Myanmar, Guinea, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan
• Reason: Instagram is more than just a place to share photos and videos; it’s where people connect, express themselves, and stay updated. But in some countries, governments block it because they’re worried about the influence of Western culture or the spread of political ideas they don’t agree with.

5. YouTube

• Countries: China, Ethiopia, Guinea, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan
• Reason: YouTube has tons of videos, some of which can be seen as politically sensitive or not fitting with the culture in certain countries, leading these governments to ban it.

6. Telegram

• Countries: Guinea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Oman, UAE, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Thailand
• Reason: Telegram is popular for its encrypted messaging and channels, which can be used to organize protests or share information anonymously, making it a target for bans in countries with strict control over communications.

7. WhatsApp

• Countries: Myanmar, Guinea, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Iran, Turkmenistan
• Reason: WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption and widespread use for both personal and group communication make it a common target for censorship in regions with strict communication regulations.

8. TikTok

TikTok has faced increased scrutiny and outright bans over privacy and security concerns around the world. The US Congress passed legislation, sending to the president a defense bill that could force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to divest from the application or face a national ban due to concerns about the app’s handling of data and its alleged links with the Chinese government, which could be utilized for espionage or other forms of surveillance. Other countries have also taken steps to ban or restrict the use of TikTok, especially on government devices. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have barred TikTok from official phones for security reasons. The European Union and the UK have joined in putting restrictions on its use on government devices. An international debate is still heating up with concerns over data privacy and security, including the influence of foreign technology on domestic affairs.

In addition, there is a country like North Korea, where both apps and content are heavily restricted. This includes a broad range of content, from foreign news and social media platforms to entertainment and educational resources, all tightly controlled to maintain a highly regulated digital environment.

9. Roblox:

• China: Banned because it might spread anti-communist propaganda and unregulated content.
• Jordan: Restricted due to worries about bad language and violence.
• Guatemala: Banned because it’s considered unsafe for kids

10. Twitch:

• Iran: Blocked on July 4, 2022, restricting access for Iranian Internet users.
• China: Blocked due to strict internet censorship and control over online content.
• Russia: Limited access or blocked in response to regulatory and political pressures.

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Banned Content Beyond Apps

In addition to the outright ban of certain apps, some countries impose restrictions on specific types of content across all media, including the internet. This can include:

• Political Content: Many countries restrict content that is critical of the government or that might inspire political dissent. For example, in China, content related to the Tiananmen Square protests or the Hong Kong independence movement is heavily censored.
• Cultural Content: Content that is perceived as offensive to local customs, religions, or values is often restricted. This can include anything from depictions of alcohol consumption to certain sexual content.
• Historical Content: In some countries, certain interpretations of historical events are banned. For instance, Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany and other parts of Europe.
• Foreign News: In an effort to control the narrative, some governments restrict access to foreign news sources, especially during times of political unrest.

The Impact on Travelers

For travelers, these restrictions can be a frustrating surprise, especially when trying to use their favorite social media or messaging apps. It’s important for travelers to know what to expect in terms of internet access in the countries they’re visiting. Sometimes, using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can help get around these blocks, but even VPNs can be restricted or illegal in some places.

The Role of Content Filtering

Besides blocking specific apps, there are other ways to limit what you can see online, such as content filtering. Content filtering works by blocking certain types of content based on predefined categories, like adult material, gambling sites, or other topics considered inappropriate. This means that even if a website is accessible, specific pages or types of content can be restricted to prevent access. Content filtering is often used by schools, workplaces, and parents to control what users can view online, making it a useful tool for managing internet use and ensuring it aligns with certain guidelines or policies. Some organizations use solutions like SafeDNS for web filtering and app blocking to manage and control internet access according to their specific needs and policies.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) play a big role when it comes to content filtering. Since they can implement web filtering at the network level, they’re in a position to influence what all their users can and can’t access online. But it’s not just about blocking bad stuff—it’s about offering added value to their services.

SafeDNS steps in with flexible, secure solutions for ISPs that want to up their game on network protection. These tools let ISPs offer cool features like parental controls, so families can keep an eye on what’s being accessed on their home network. It’s a service that builds trust and boosts customer loyalty, making it a win-win for ISPs.

SafeDNS also helps ISPs stay on the right side of the law. If the government says to block certain sites or apps—like TikTok, 1xBet, or crypto exchanges—SafeDNS has them covered. With AI and machine learning in the mix, SafeDNS gives ISPs top-notch content classification and filtering, keeping them compliant with regulations and meeting customer demands.

The digital divide caused by social media bans and content restrictions brings up bigger global issues around control and freedom. Countries with strict internet rules use these measures to control the flow of information and shape cultural norms. For travelers and locals, this means dealing with a digital world where familiar apps and websites might be off-limits.

These challenges can actually lead to some practical solutions for travelers. Before heading out, it’s a good idea to check out the local internet rules and maybe download any important apps or content you’ll need. Using a VPN can help you safely access blocked sites and services. You can also switch to local social media or messaging apps that are still available. By staying up-to-date with the local digital scene, you can adapt and stay connected. This approach not only helps you navigate current barriers but also gives you a better understanding of how technology interacts with governance and culture, enriching your view of digital freedom and connectivity worldwide.

Majority of Americans worried over social media censorship ahead of election

A majority of Americans are worried that social media companies are censoring content related to the 2024 election, according to a new poll. The Center Square Voter’s Voice survey found that 61% of likely voters are concerned about censorship on platforms like Facebook and Google as Election Day approaches.

The poll, which surveyed 2,290 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.1%, revealed that men (64%) are slightly more concerned than women (57%).

The data also showed significant concern among racial groups, with 66% of Hispanic voters and 62% of white voters expressing worry. Meanwhile, 44% of Black voters shared concerns.

Republicans are leading the charge in raising alarms, with 78% expressing concern, compared to just 43% of Democrats. However, 61% of independents — a key swing voting group — said they were also worried about censorship.

These concerns are being fueled by recent revelations. In August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted to Congress that his company had bowed to government pressure to censor content during the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar scrutiny has been directed at Google, which faced backlash for allegedly manipulating search results related to past presidents, though the company has denied intentional censorship.

The poll highlights growing distrust of tech platforms in political spaces, with voters fearing that vital information may be hidden in the final weeks of the election cycle.

As social media plays an increasingly central role in shaping political discourse, concerns about how these platforms moderate content could become a deciding factor in the 2024 presidential race.

Free Speech on Social Media: The Complete Guide

The First Amendment protects speech from government censorship. But what about free speech on social media?

Social media platforms are private companies and are not bound by the First Amendment. In fact, they have their own First Amendment rights. This means they can moderate the content people post on their websites without violating those users’ First Amendment rights. It also means that the government cannot tell social media sites how to moderate content. Many state laws to regulate how social media companies can moderate content have failed on First Amendment grounds.

Most sites also cannot, in most cases, be sued because of users’ posts due to Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act.

But given their significant role in public discourse, it’s important to know the most popular social media platforms’ policies for moderating users and content. How do they compare to each other and to the First Amendment’s values? Here’s a deeper dive into free speech on social media.

Editor’s note: Each social media icon below provides a summary of the platform’s policy for four primary categories — hate speech, harassment, misinformation and obscenity. For full policies, guidelines and terms of service, navigate to the “related resources” section at the bottom of the page. 

Free speech on social media: What can and can’t you say?

Hate speech

Hate speech is speech that offends or attacks people based on their identity or characteristics such as race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or disease.

The First Amendment protects hate speech from government censorship unless it falls into a recognized exception to the First Amendment such as incitement to imminent lawless action, true threats, fighting words or defamation.

Harassment

Harassment refers to unwanted behavior that makes someone feel degraded, humiliated or offended. We do not define it to include true threats of violence, which are banned by all these platforms and are not protected by the First Amendment.

The First Amendment does not protect true threats (serious expressions of intent to commit acts of unlawful violence) from government censorship. But some anti-bullying laws have been struck down for violating the First Amendment.

Misinformation

Misinformation is false or inaccurate information. Examples of misinformation include false rumors, insults and pranks. Examples of more deliberate disinformation include malicious content such as hoaxes and propaganda.

The First Amendment protects false statements in many cases (with exceptions for fraud and defamation).

Obscenity

Obscenity is generally used to refer to sexual content that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time.

The First Amendment protects pornography from government censorship unless it’s obscene. Whether something is obscene depends on contemporary community standards and whether it has any literary, artistic, political or scientific value. But nudity alone is not enough to make something obscene.

Trump Signs Order ‘Ending Federal Censorship’ on Social Media Platforms

At issue are the Biden administration’s efforts to point out potentially harmful misinformation on social media platforms, particularly around COVID-19.

Shortly after his second inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.”

Under the order, all government agencies, employees, and agents are barred from using any federal resource to “abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The order also accuses the Biden administration of using the pretense of “misinformation” and “disinformation” to infringe on free speech rights.

“Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve,” the order claims.

Trump’s executive order instructs the Attorney General, along with the heads of executive departments and agencies, to investigate the previous administration’s activities related to the censorship of free speech and provide “recommendations for appropriate remedial actions.”

At issue are government efforts to point out potentially harmful misinformation on social media platforms, particularly around COVID-19. In 2023, a judge banned dozens of federal officials across four cabinet departments and agencies from talking to these platforms about their content, ruling that it was a First Amendment violation.

A year later, the Supreme Court overturned that, ruling that the feds can notify social media platforms about posts they believe violate the sites’ policies and suggest they be removed. However, the Supreme Court said it wouldn’t rise to the level of a First Amendment violation unless the government used “do this or else” coercion.

In August, Mark Zuckerberg said the Biden administration pressured Meta to “censor” user posts about the COVID-19 pandemic, though he acknowledged that “it was our decision whether or not to take content down.” During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, meanwhile, Zuckerberg also claimed that Biden officials screamed and cursed at Meta employees while demanding the takedown of posts that doubted the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness. 

“While they’re trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who was basically arguing against it,” Zuckerberg told Rogan. “And they pushed us super hard to take down things that honestly were true.”

Zuckerberg (along with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and X owner Elon Musk) attended Trump’s inauguration yesterday. The executives all donated $1 million to the inaugural, either personally or through their companies.

Meta recently announced that it’s adopting user-driven “Community Notes” as an alternative to fact-checkers. A similar feature on X inspired the move.

Trump’s executive order doesn’t address the rise of misinformation and AI-generated deepfakes on social media platforms.

Controlling searches on engines–by lowering priority for conservative right postings

How Do Search Engines Work? A Guide On Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking

Search engines are your portal to the internet. They break down huge mountains of information to answer a user’s query in milliseconds. They make it seem simple, so how do search engines actually work?

To discover, categorize, and rank the billions of websites that make up the internet, search engines use sophisticated algorithms with a goal to answer search intent. They have already qualified the pages in their database, so they can answer those queries with matching URLs at lightning speed.

It’s a complex process that’s broken into this basic summary:

• Search engines send out bots to read web pages,
• They store what they find in a massive database, and
• They answer searches using the data they stored about each page.

All of that data includes ranking factors, or qualities, about the page itself. Those details help search engines determine which pages are most likely to give the user what they’re hoping to find.

Understanding the behind-the-scenes processes that make search engines work can help in your SEO work. When you are mindful about why certain pages rank well, you can craft strong content with the potential to rank higher.

How Do Search Engines work?

To be effective, search engines need to understand exactly what kind of information is available and present it to users logically. The way they accomplish this is through three fundamental actions: crawling, indexing, and ranking.

Search engine process flow

Through these actions, they discover newly published content, store the information on their servers, and organize it for your consumption.  Here’s a look at what happens during each of these actions.

Crawling: How search engines find your pages

What does crawling mean to search engines?

Crawling is the way that search engines find your pages. They send out their own web crawlers, but you might be more familiar with the terms bots and spiders. I love the imagery that these are straight out of a Spider-Man movie, but sending out crawlers is less “spider-army” and more “massive wall of dedicated computers.”

These crawlers “read” your web page to review the content, especially new pages and existing content that has recently been changed. Crawling is the process of identifying URLs, sitemaps, text and code to understand the type of content being displayed and learning where to crawl next.

Internal links play a big role in guiding the bots to other pages on your site. Those links support sitemaps in helping crawlers discover the pages on your site and the context to what they are about. That’s why a good internal linking practice is such an important part of growing your SEO footprint.

Tell search engines how to crawl your site

Depending on the stage from crawling to ranking, the amount of control that you have over search engines ranges from “give it directions” to “just hope for the best.” In this stage, you have a say in how your site is crawled. Search engines use their own algorithms to determine how to crawl your pages, but you set additional permissions through your Robots.txt file. Since crawling is just a matter of bots discovering your pages–one after another–this is more like allowing guests to tour your house, but some doors are closed.

Robots.txt

Robots.txt file is the set of rules about which pages are allowed to be crawled and which should be ignored. It’s a simple text file that lives at the root of your site. (www.domain.com/robots.txt) It establishes a user agent and the files that specific bot has access to (or not). The user agent can be specific, like “googlebot” or use an asterisk “*” as a wildcard, applying to all bots that crawl your site.

Google Search Central explains that the purpose of robots.txt is to keep their bots from overloading your site with requests. Blocking Google entirely from a page is best handled through “noindex.” Look for more information on that in the Index section further ahead.

Sitemaps

A sitemap helps crawlers learn where pages are located on your site, how they are organized, and which ones should be crawled more often than others. It’s a list of all of your site’s URLs and helps search engines crawl your site efficiently and thoroughly.

A well-optimized sitemap also includes information on the format of the page (video, for example), how recently the page was updated, and other languages that the page can be shown in. You can also give priority to pages that are updated more often so that crawlers will visit those more often than pages that are static and less important.

By improving the visibility and context of your pages, sitemaps enhance a website’s SEO performance.

Redirects

Redirect instructions tell the crawlers that a page has been moved to a new location.

Usually when you update a page, you change the text or add rich content and set it live. Pages evolve, and crawlers pick up the new version when they return. However, if you change the URL of that page or remove a page altogether, the original URL doesn’t disappear from the internet. Using a redirect tells the crawler that it should recognize a new page in its place.

A permanent 301 redirect tells the crawler that the new destination page should be treated as the final, canonical version. A temporary redirect will instruct the bots to keep your original page in the results for a while, as you aren’t removing it altogether. This is helpful when you are temporarily removing a service that you offer.

Issues with your crawl

If the bots run into any issues while attempting to crawl your pages, this can turn into bigger problems for your site’s SEO. Pages that aren’t crawled won’t be indexed and displayed in search results, hurting your site’s visibility.

Why search engine bots can’t crawl your pages

Crawl issues tend to have basic culprits. Bots don’t crawl pages that they can’t access. For instance, pages that require a login generally won’t be crawled. Other causes are 404 errors (page not found), which signal a page that has been moved or deleted without a proper redirect, and 500 errors (server issues), indicating a problem with the server hosting the website.

We also found that pages cannot be crawled because of simple errors in your robots.txt file, but there’s an easy fix.

You can use tools like Screaming Frog to crawl your site and detect those issues. It also detects broken links which could also point to a crawl issue on your page.

Indexing: How search engines store your page details

What does indexing mean to search engines?

The index step stores important details that the crawlers discovered about each page. Search engines use software to organize pages based on their content so it can retrieve them later to answer a search. This extensive process adds web page details to a massive database.

Indexing saves the data about a page, including positive and negative ranking signals. It also reviews the page’s tags and attributes, assessing whether this page is the right one to be stored in the index so it can be served in a search.

Tell search engines how to index your site

As a site owner you have more specific ways to tell search engines how to assess your pages. Consider this less “telling” and more “strongly suggesting.” Instructions in the form of metadata and schema give search engines more context about the intention of your page.

Metadata and Structured Data

The term metadata covers many search engine directions in the indexing stage. A key standout is the robots meta tags.

By adding this tag in the HTML head of a webpage, site owners can instruct search engines not to index a page or follow the links on it. Common directives include noindex, nofollow, noarchive, and nosnippet. Notice that index and follow are not listed as they are the default instructions.

An alternate way to accomplish this is by setting the X-Robots-Tag in the HTTP header. You can also set user agents here, giving nofollow instructions to googlebot and setting different instructions like noindex to the other search engine bots.

Structured data gives the search engines directions for how to interpret the page data in a system called schema markup. It’s visible only to search engines and can tell them to index and display your page as a recipe, or it makes your event page more accessible when searchers are looking for its date, location, or ticket prices.

Using schema markup does not guarantee that your instructions will be followed, but it’s a good bet–and a good SEO practice. It can help search engines understand the content of a page better, leading to enhanced search results like rich snippets.

Canonicalization

When search engine bots discover pages that are very similar, the crawlers need instructions to tell them apart. You can help them understand that any multiple versions of a page that they discover are actually intentional.

Duplicate or near-duplicate pages exist for good reason. For instance, the www vs non-www versions of a page look identical, but they are two separate pages as far as search engines can tell. That’s also the case with mobile pages compared to desktop versions or HTTP and HTTPS.

Your solution happens to be an SEO best practice. As the site owner, you can present an organized, clean site by establishing canonical versions–the page that you want search engines to serve–that erase any confusion.

You do this by adding rel=”canonical” code in the <head> section of the web page.

Issues with Indexing

Even after a successful crawl, not all web pages get indexed. Several factors can play a part in that, especially technical issues and content quality. There’s also a basic reason with an easy fix. We’ll take a look at all of these.

Technical Issues

Technical problems can stem from how the website is structured or from problems in the code that throw off the bots. Some issues, like sitemap errors, cause crawl issues up front. Crawl issues lead to indexing issues. However, it’s possible to have pages that are crawled but not indexed.

The error “crawled but not indexed” means that Google is aware of the pages, but something about the page itself didn’t make the cut. If you rule out any of the expected reasons a page is not indexed (redirected, blocked by robots.txt, etc.) consider other possibilities:

• Server or technical issues: The website had issues during the crawl or indexing process
• Wrong canonical: The page has the wrong canonical tag attached

Should you find a page marked with that error, run it through the URL inspection in Google Search Console for an up-to-date status. It’s possible that the issue has been resolved but not yet refreshed in the Page indexing report.  

Content Quality and Relevance

Search engines aim to serve up high-quality, relevant content. Pages that do not meet these standards may not get indexed. Some possible quality obstacles are:

• Duplicate Content: Pages with content that is identical or very similar to other pages on the same site or across the web may be skipped over.
• Thin Content: If the page has little substance or supporting details, it won’t be deemed helpful to the user.
• Low-Quality Content: Pages that contain spammy elements, excessive ads, or content that is not useful to users may be penalized.

Content Visibility and Access

Your pages need to be accessible to search engines. Further, the content should be “visible,” not just to the human eye, but to the computers doing the indexing.

Let’s say that you have pages that rely on resources like CSS, JavaScript, or images in order to make the page work. If any of those elements are blocked from being crawled, the page won’t render completely. If the search engine can’t render the page, it probably won’t index it.  

That access extends to logins, too. Search engines can’t reach pages that are kept behind logins, so those won’t be indexed. That allows more sensitive information to be kept private–at least limited to those with permission to reach it.

Use Google Search Console for Indexing Issues

Using Google Search Console, site owners can control various ways of how their site is indexed, especially to troubleshoot any issues that arise. This includes requesting reindexing of specific pages and finding crawl and index errors.

Ranking: How search engines show pages in search results

Serving the results–and listing them in a particular order–is called ranking, but you might also hear that a search engine is returning or “surfacing” results. The data it finds during the crawl and index stages helps the search engine determine which results to show in a user’s search.

What makes a page rank better than another one?

Search engines rank the results in order of relevance. The goal is to give the searcher the best possible answer to their query that they typed. Because that can be subjective, the search engines have to rely on multiple factors to improve the chances of getting it right.

Ranking Factors

Different search engines have their own mix of factors and weights to each factor that influence how search results are ranked. Even further, they might even display the page titles and descriptions differently.

However, certain key criteria stand out. You can confidently optimize your page for these key factors, improving your ranks on any SERP.

Relevance

The page needs to ultimately answer what the searcher wanted to find. Now, you’re no mind-reader, but you can create content that covers a topic but then also touches on the subtopics and follow-up questions that go along with it. Specific details inside your page could be the exact match for a long question typed into a search bar.

It’s better to go deep instead of wide.

Authority

As more of your web pages rank, search engines can detect your general expertise. Even smaller sites can establish that they are authoritative on a topic just as a more established site can. Better Homes and Gardens has excellent content on houseplants, but The Sill has stronger authority. As it is dedicated entirely to producing trustworthy content on plants around the home, it is likely to get new articles on houseplants to rank high and rank quickly.

You can mimic this practice by establishing content around your core services and then building pieces for closely related topics.

Quality

No searcher wants to click through to find that the article hardly answers their question or offers a good point of view. Quality content is well-written and thorough. Search engines give weight to pages that cover the topic with clear information and fleshed-out examples. And while there’s little filler on the page, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a long article. Some short pieces are considered high quality pages, mostly because they clearly answer the search without dragging the reader along.

Search Engines vs. Browsers

Search engines have gotten so sophisticated that they are now a seamless part of browsers. Most browsers have integrated search into their basic operation, making it easy for people to mistake one for the other.

Still, each one has a different role.

A web browser is software that allows users to interact with web pages on the internet. Examples of web browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. You can have more than one downloaded onto a laptop or a smartphone, but you usually set a default browser to open web pages from other sources–like a link in an email.

A search engine (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing), helps users find web pages that match their search.

A browser allows users to type in a URL or click on links to get to specific websites (or pages). A search engine allows users to type in keywords and phrases to search for specific information on the internet. A browser like Chrome will often have a search engine (Google) built in, making it seem to users like they are one and the same.

How do Search Engines Make Money?

Search engines generate revenue from a variety of services, but advertising is the dominant source. Each search engine has its own ad platform, with a few overlaps between affiliated companies.  

Search engine ads allow brands to promote their products and services on a search results page in exchange for a small commission each time a user clicks on the ad.

One form of advertising is online shopping. Brands can promote their products in a separate section of the search results, usually one that involves images and more details about the item.

Apart from ad services, search engines also expand into offerings like Google Apps and Firefox’s sponsored new tabs.

Understanding How Search Engines Work Helps You Create Better Content

When you know how different platforms display their results, it is easier to create content with the potential to rank well. Optimizing your pages for relevant searches can help you drive more traffic to your website. It’s the basic strategy of SEO.

SEO relies on major elements like technical on-page optimization, authoritativeness, and substantial, relevant content.

Technical optimization is a part of SEO that involves making improvements to the website’s technical structure to make it more search engine-friendly. It includes user-focused signals such as improving website speed, fixing broken links, and optimizing for mobile devices.

Quality backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Search engines consider them as a vote of confidence for your website’s content and authority. Having high-quality backlinks can improve your website’s search engine rankings.

Finally, content is the core of what you are optimizing. Understanding how search engines work can help you diagnose why other types of content rank better or worse than your own.

We’ve put together five tips based on this information that can help you create better content across every platform:

• Understanding user intent is important. Every platform we looked at today prioritizes content based on how relevant it is to a user’s search query.
• Matching keywords will only get you so far. Including relevant keywords in your content will help search engines discover and index your content easier, but ranking well is more about providing value to users.
• Know how your target customer searches. Matching both keywords and intent requires an in-depth understanding of your customers and how they think about your product and your market.
• New content helps boost rankings. Creating new content or refreshing your existing content helps it rank higher and boosts your credibility as a brand.
• Gaining authoritative links is helpful. The more people link to your page, the better it will appear to search engines. This signals that it’s valuable and relevant to the content of every page it links to.

In the end, it all comes down to understanding your customer. You can’t create content that ranks well if you don’t know what people are looking for when they search for your product.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide

When you built your website, you likely created it with your users in mind, trying to make it easy for them to find and explore your content. One of those users is a search engine, which helps people discover your content. SEO—short for search engine optimization—is about helping search engines understand your content, and helping users find your site and make a decision about whether they should visit your site through a search engine.

The Search Essentials outline the most important elements of what makes your website eligible to appear on Google Search. While there’s no guarantee that any particular site will be added to Google’s index, sites that follow the Search Essentials are more likely to show up in Google’s search results. SEO is about taking the next step and working on improving your site’s presence in Search. This guide will walk you through some of the most common and effective improvements you can do on your site.

There are no secrets here that’ll automatically rank your site first in Google (sorry!). In fact some of the suggestions might not even apply to your business, but following the best practices will hopefully make it easier for search engines (not just Google) to crawl, index, and understand your content.

How does Google Search work?

Google is a fully automated search engine that uses programs called crawlers to explore the web constantly, looking for pages to add to our index. You usually don’t need to do anything except publish your site on the web. In fact, the vast majority of sites listed in our results are found and added automatically as we crawl the web. If you’re hungry for more, we have documentation about how Google discovers, crawls, and serves web pages.Short on time or not feeling adventurous? You might consider hiring a professional. Here’s what to consider.

How long until I see impact in search results?

Every change you make will take some time to be reflected on Google’s end. Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months. In general, you likely want to wait a few weeks to assess whether your work had beneficial effects in Google Search results. Keep in mind that not all changes you make to your website will result in noticeable impact in search results; if you’re not satisfied with your results and your business strategies allow it, try iterating with the changes and see if they make a difference.

Help Google find your content

Before you actually do anything mentioned in this section, check if Google has already found your content (maybe you don’t need to do anything!). Try searching on Google for your site with the site: search operator. If you see results pointing to your site, you’re in the index. For example, a search for site:wikipedia.org returns these results. If you don’t see your site, check out the technical requirements to make sure there’s nothing technically preventing your site from showing in Google Search, and then come back here.

Google primarily finds pages through links from other pages it already crawled. In many cases, these are other websites that are linking to your pages. Other sites linking to you is something that happens naturally over time, and you can also encourage people to discover your content by promoting your site.

If you’re open to a little technical challenge, you could also submit a sitemap—which is a file that contains all the URLs on your site that you care about. Some content management systems (CMS) may even do this automatically for you. However this isn’t required, and you should first focus on making sure people know about your site.

Check if Google can see your page the same way a user does

When Google crawls a page, it should ideally see the page the same way an average user does. For this, Google needs to be able to access the same resources as the user’s browser. If your site is hiding important components that make up your website (like CSS and JavaScript), Google might not be able to understand your pages, which means they might not show up in search results or rank well for the terms you’re targeting.

If your pages have different information depending on the user’s physical location, make sure you’re satisfied with the information that Google sees from its crawler’s location, which is generally the US.

To check how Google sees your page, use the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console.

Don’t want a page in Google’s search results?

It might be important for you to opt out your site as a whole or sections of it from appearing in search results. For example, you might not want your posts about your new embarrassing haircut to show up in search results. Google supports various ways that lets you opt out of crawling and indexing of your URLs. If you need to block some files, directories, or even your whole site from Google Search, check out our guide about ways to prevent content from appearing in search results.

Organize your site

When you’re setting up or redoing your site, it can be good to organize it in a logical way because it can help search engines and users understand how your pages relate to the rest of your site. Don’t drop everything and start reorganizing your site right now though: while these suggestions can be helpful long term (especially if you’re working on a larger website), search engines will likely understand your pages as they are right now, regardless of how your site is organized.

Use descriptive URLs

Parts of the URL can be displayed in search results as breadcrumbs, so users can also use the URLs to understand whether a result will be useful for them.

Domain

Breadcrumb

Google learns breadcrumbs automatically based on the words in the URL, but you can also influence them with structured data if you like a technical challenge. Try to include words in the URL that may be useful for users; for example:

https://www.example.com/pets/cats.html

A URL that only contains random identifiers is less helpful for users; for example:

https://www.example.com/2/6772756D707920636174

Group topically similar pages in directories

If you have more than a few thousand URLs on your site, how you organize your content may have effects on how Google crawls and indexes your site. Specifically, using directories (or folders) to group similar topics can help Google learn how often the URLs in individual directories change.

For example, consider the following URLs:

https://www.example.com/policies/return-policy.html

https://www.example.com/promotions/new-promos.html

The content in the policies directory seldomly changes, however the content in the promotions directory likely changes very often. Google can learn this information and crawl the different directories at different frequencies. To learn more about search-friendly site structures, check out our guide for ecommerce sites, for which a good URL structure is more important as they tend to be larger.

Reduce duplicate content

Some websites show the same content under different URLs, which is called duplicate content. Search engines choose a single URL (the canonical URL) to show users, per piece of content.

Having duplicate content on your site is not a violation of our spam policies, but it can be a bad user experience and search engines might waste crawling resources on URLs that you don’t even care about. If you’re feeling adventurous, it’s worth figuring out if you can specify a canonical version for your pages. But if you don’t canonicalize your URLs yourself, Google will try to automatically do it for you.

When working on canonicalization, try to ensure that each piece of content on your site is only accessible through one individual URL; having two pages that contain the same information about your promotions can be a confusing user experience (for example, people might wonder which is the right page, and whether there’s a difference between the two).

If you have multiple pages that have the same information, try setting up a redirect from non-preferred URLs to a URL that best represents that information. If you can’t redirect, use the rel="canonical" link element instead. But again, don’t worry too much about this; search engines can generally figure this out for you on their own most of the time.

Make your site interesting and useful

Creating content that people find compelling and useful will likely influence your website’s presence in search results more than any of the other suggestions in this guide. While “compelling and useful content” can mean different things to different people, content like this generally shares some common attributes, such as:

• The text is easy-to-read and well organized: Write content naturally and make sure the content is well written, easy to follow, and free of spelling and grammatical mistakes. Break up long content into paragraphs and sections, and provide headings to help users navigate your pages.
• The content is unique: When you’re writing new content, don’t copy others’ content in part or in its entirety: create the content yourself based on what you know about the topic. Don’t just rehash what others already published.
• The content is up-to-date: Check in on previously published content and update it as needed, or even delete it if it’s not relevant anymore.
• The content is helpful, reliable, and people-first: Be sure that you’re writing content that your readers will find helpful and reliable. For example, providing expert or experienced sources can help people understand your articles’ expertise.

Expect your readers’ search terms

Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content. Users who know a lot about the topic might use different keywords in their search queries than someone who is new to the topic. For example, some users might search for “charcuterie”, while others might search for “cheese board”. Anticipating these differences in search behavior and writing with your readers in mind could produce positive effects on how your site performs in search results.

However, don’t worry if you don’t anticipate every variation of how someone might seek your content. Google’s language matching systems are sophisticated and can understand how your page relates to many queries, even if you don’t explicitly use the exact terms in them.

Avoid distracting advertisements

While ads are a part of the internet and are meant to be seen by users, don’t let them become overly distracting or prevent your users from reading your content. For example, advertisements, or interstitial pages (pages displayed before or after the content you’re expecting) that make it difficult to use the website.

Link to relevant resources

Links are a great way to connect your users and search engines to other parts of your site, or relevant pages on other sites. In fact, the vast majority of the new pages Google finds every day are through links, making links a crucial resource you need to consider to help your pages be discovered by Google and potentially shown in search results. Additionally, links can also add value by connecting users (and Google) to another resource that corroborates what you’re writing about.

Write good link text

Link text (also known as anchor text) is the text part of a link that you can see. This text tells users and Google something about the page you’re linking to. With appropriate anchor text, users and search engines can easily understand what your linked pages contain before they visit.

Link when you need to

Links can provide more context on a topic, both for users and search engines, which may help demonstrate your knowledge on a topic. However when you’re linking to pages outside of your control, for example content on other sites, make sure you trust the resource you’re linking to. If you can’t trust the content and you still want to link to them, add a nofollow or similar annotation to the link to avoid search engines associating your site with the site you’re linking to. This helps avoid potential negative consequences in your rankings in Google Search.

If you’re accepting user-generated content on your site, such as forum posts or comments, make sure every link that’s posted by users has a nofollow or similar annotation automatically added by your CMS. Since you’re not creating the content in this case, you likely don’t want your site to be blindly associated with the sites users are linking to. This can also help discourage spammers from abusing your website.

Influence how your site looks in Google Search

A typical Google Search results page consists of a few different visual elements that you can influence to help users decide whether they should visit your site through those search results. In this section, we’re focusing on the title link and the snippet because these are the more visually significant elements.

Influence your title links

The title link is the headline part of the search result and it can help people decide which search result to click. There are a few sources that Google uses to generate this title link, including the words inside the <title> element (also called the title text) and other headings on the page. This title text can also be used for the title that’s shown in browsers and bookmarks.

How to make your own chili oilIf you use a CMS, you might not need to do anything technical to your titles, beyond just focusing on writing good titles. Most CMSes can automatically turn the titles you write into a <title> element in the HTML.

You can influence the title links in Search by writing good titles: a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describes the contents of the page. For example, your title could include the name of your website or business, other bits of important information like the physical location of the business, and maybe some information about what the particular page has to offer for users. Our documentation about title links has more tips about how to create good titles and how to influence your site’s search results’ title links.

Control your snippets

Below the title link, a search result typically has a description of the target page to help users decide whether they should click the search result. This is called a snippet.

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The snippet is sourced from the actual content of the page the search result is linking to, thus you have complete control over the words that can be used to generate the snippet. Occasionally the snippet may be sourced from the contents of the meta description tag, which is typically a succinct, one- or two-sentence summary of the page. A good meta description is short, unique to one particular page, and includes the most relevant points of the page. Check out our tips for writing good meta descriptions for more inspiration.

Add images to your site, and optimize them

Many people search visually, and images can be how people find your website for the first time. For example, if you have a recipe blog, people might find your content by searching for “fruit tart recipes” and browsing photos of various types of fruit tarts.

As you add images to your site, make sure that people and search engines can find and understand them.

Add high-quality images near relevant text

When you use high quality images, you give users enough context and detail to decide which image best matches what they were looking for. For example, if people are looking for “daisies” and come across a rogue edelweiss in search results, a higher quality image would help them distinguish the type of flower.

Use images that are sharp and clear, and place them near text that’s relevant to the image. The text that’s near images can help Google better understand what the image is about and what it means in context to your page.

For example, if the page is reviewing yarn shops in London, then it would make sense to embed one of your photos of the yarn shop in the section that details the location, description, and review information for that yarn shop. This helps Google and users associate the image with text that provides more context to what the page is about.

Add descriptive alt text to the image

Alt text is a short, but descriptive piece of text that explains the relationship between the image and your content. It helps search engines understand what your image is about and the context of how your image relates to your page, so writing good alt text is quite important. You can add this to your HTML with the alt attribute of the img element, or your CMS may have an easy way to specify a description for an image when you’re uploading it to your site. Learn more about how to write good alt text, and how to add it to your images.

Optimize your videos

If your website includes pages that are primarily about individual videos, people may also be able to discover your site through video results in Google Search. Many of the best practices for images and text also apply to videos:

• Create high-quality video content, and embed the video on a standalone page, near text that’s relevant to that video.
• Write descriptive text in the titles and description fields of a video (the title of a video is still a title, and so you can apply the best practices for writing titles here too).

If your site is particularly video-focused, then continue reading about more things you can do to optimize your videos for search engines.

Promote your website

Effectively promoting your new content will lead to faster discovery by those who are interested in the same subject, and also by search engines. You can do this in many ways:

• Social media promotion
• Community engagement
• Advertisement, both offline and online
• Word of mouth, and many other methods

One of the most effective and lasting ways is word of mouth: that is, people familiar with your site tell their friends about it, who in turn visit your site. This can take time, and usually you need to invest some time and effort in other practices first, such as community engagement. Our friends over at Google for Creators have excellent resources about building and engaging your audience.

Putting effort into the offline promotion of your company or site can also be rewarding. For example, if you have a business site, make sure its URL is listed on your business cards, letterhead, posters, and other materials. With their permission, you could also send out recurring newsletters to your audience letting them know about new content on your website.

As with everything in life, you can overdo promoting your site and actually harm it: people may get fatigued of your promotions, and search engines may perceive some of the practices as manipulation of search results.

Things we believe you shouldn’t focus on

As SEO has evolved, so have the ideas and practices (and at times, misconceptions) related to it. What was considered best practice or top priority in the past may no longer be relevant or effective due to the way search engines (and the internet) have developed over time.

To help you focus on the things that are actually important when it comes to SEO, we collected some of the most common and prominent topics we’ve seen circulating the internet. In general, our message on these topics is that you should do what’s best for your business area; we will elaborate on a few specific points here:

Meta keywordsGoogle Search doesn’t use the keywords meta tag.Keyword stuffingExcessively repeating the same words over and over (even in variations) is tiring for users, and keyword stuffing is against Google’s spam policies.Keywords in the domain name or URL pathWhen picking the name of your site, do what’s best for your business. Users will use this name to find you, so we recommend following general marketing best practices. From a ranking perspective, the keywords in the name of the domain (or URL path) alone have hardly any effect beyond appearing in breadcrumbs.And while still on the topic of domain names: the TLD (the domain name ending like “.com” or “.guru”) only matters if you’re targeting a specific country’s users, and even then it’s usually a low impact signal. For example, if you’re trying to sell Dutch cheese to people searching from Switzerland, it makes some sense (both from business and SEO point of view) to use a .ch domain name. Otherwise Google Search doesn’t care which TLD you’re using (whether it’s a .com or .org or .asia).Minimum or maximum content lengthThe length of the content alone doesn’t matter for ranking purposes (there’s no magical word count target, minimum or maximum, though you probably want to have at least one word). If you are varying the words (writing naturally to not be repetitive), you have more chances to show up in Search simply because you are using more keywords.

Subdomains versus subdirectoriesFrom a business point of view, do whatever makes sense for your business. For example, it might be easier to manage the site if it’s segmented by subdirectories, but other times it might make sense to partition topics into subdomains, depending on your site’s topic or industry.PageRankWhile PageRank uses links and is one of the fundamental algorithms at Google, there’s much more to Google Search than just links. We have many ranking signals, and PageRank is just one of those.Duplicate content “penalty”If you have some content that’s accessible under multiple URLs, it’s fine; don’t fret about it. It’s inefficient, but it’s not something that will cause a manual action. Copying others’ content, however, is a different story.Number and order of headingsHaving your headings in semantic order is fantastic for screen readers, but from Google Search perspective, it doesn’t matter if you’re using them out of order. The web in general is not valid HTML, so Google Search can rarely depend on semantic meanings hidden in the HTML specification.There’s also no magical, ideal amount of headings a given page should have. However, if you think it’s too much, then it probably is.Thinking E-E-A-T is a ranking factorNo, it’s not.

Next steps

• Get started with Search Console: Setting up a Search Console account helps you monitor and optimize how your website performs on Google Search. Learn how to set up your account and what reports to check out first.
• Maintain your website’s SEO over time: Learn more about managing your site’s presence in the long term, including more in-depth SEO tasks and scenarios, such as preparing for a site move, or managing a multi-lingual site.
• Enhance how your site looks in Google Search results: Valid structured data on your pages also makes your pages eligible for many special features in Google Search results, including review stars, carousels, and more. Explore the gallery of search result types that your page can be eligible for.

Stay informed and ask questions

As you embark on your SEO journey, here are some resources that can help you stay on top of changes and new resources we publish:

Google Search Central blog: Get the latest information from our Google Search Central blog. You can find information about updates to Google Search, new Search Console features, and much more.Google Search Central on LinkedIn and X (Twitter): Follow us for updates on Google Search and resources to help you make a great site.

Google Search Central Help Forum: Post questions about your site’s SEO issues and find tips to create high quality sites from the product forum for website owners. There are many experienced contributors in the forum, including Product Experts and occasionally Googlers.Google Search Central YouTube Channel: Watch hundreds of helpful videos created for website owners.

Controlling what appears on your social media sites

To control what appears on your social media sites, you can adjust your privacy settings, unfollow or mute accounts that post unwanted content, use filtering options to hide specific topics, and most importantly, be mindful of how you interact with content on your feed by avoiding engagement with posts you don’t want to see more of, as algorithms learn from your actions to tailor your feed accordingly. 

Key methods to control your social media feed:

• Privacy settings:Each platform allows you to customize who can see your posts, stories, and profile information. 
• Unfollow/Mute accounts:Remove unwanted content from your feed by unfollowing pages or muting specific accounts. 
• Filtering options:Many platforms offer filters to hide specific topics or types of content, like sensitive content or NSFW material. 
• Engaging strategically:
  • Avoid engagement with unwanted content: Don’t like, comment, or share posts you don’t want to see more of. 
  • Engage with desired content: Actively interact with posts that align with your interests. 
• Manage your “Following” list:Regularly review the accounts you follow and remove any that are no longer relevant. 
• Use “See First” feature (if available):Prioritize content from specific accounts by setting them to “See First” in your settings. 

Question: What are some ways for youth to control what they see on social media? (algorithm, settings, etc.)

Answer: Sometimes the content in our social media feeds can feel overwhelming and confusing, especially when you see content that is upsetting, scary, gross, or unwanted. Since each platform has different settings and controls, it can feel daunting to try to manage it all. Within this response, we have researched four popular social media platforms and described the settings or tools they have in place for you to control your experience.  

If you are looking for approaches beyond adjusting your social media settings, there are other things you can try. For example, set specific time blocks for using social media and stick to them, turn off notifications, or establish certain times of day or areas (e.g., classrooms, car/bus, rooms in your home) where you won’t use social media.  

Instagram  

If you’d like to change up your Instagram feed, there are different tools you can use to customize it, including: 

• Marking Favorites: Instagram’s main home feed is a ranked feed that prioritizes what you are most interested in or what you interact with most. If you don’t want to view the ranked/suggested feed, you can add accounts to your Favorites list. Once you add an account to your Favorites, these pages will appear more on your Instagram feed (along with the curated Favorites feed mentioned below). 

• Viewing curated feeds: Click on the Instagram logo on the top left corner and a menu will appear where you can choose for your feed to show the posts of people you follow in chronological order (Following Option) or to show the posts of your favorite accounts (Favorite Option).  
• Marking posts as “Not Interested” – You can also mark any post as “Not Interested” (see screenshot below). The Instagram algorithm will take this into account and show you less of this user’s posts and/or posts like this. 

• Sensitive Content Controls: While all Instagram posts are supposed to follow community guidelines, posts that don’t follow the recommendations are not always removed. The Sensitivity Content Control lets you choose to see more or less sensitive content, defined by Instagram, as content that may depict violence, such as people fighting, content that may be sexually explicit or suggestive (such as images displaying nudity), and content that promotes the use of certain regulated products (such as tobacco or vaping products, pharmaceutical drugs, etc.).  
• Snoozing Suggested Posts: You can also pause Instagram’s suggested posts in your home feed (suggested posts are posts in your home feed from accounts you don’t follow but Instagram thinks you will be interested in). Although you can’t turn them off completely, you can snooze them for 30 days to keep them from showing on your home feed. To find this setting, click on Profile > 3 lines on top right > Settings and Privacy > Content Preferences > Toggle on “Snooze suggested posts in feed.” 

TikTok  

On TikTok, your For You feed is curated through an algorithm that takes into account what videos you like, spend more time on, interact with, and what accounts you follow. The simplest way to curate your feed is to watch and interact with more of what you’d like to see.  

• Not Interested: If you come across a video that you are not interested in or it is not your taste, you can long-press on the video and a menu will pop up. On the menu, you can choose the “Not Interested” button (see screenshot below). By doing this, you are letting the algorithm know that you want to see fewer or no TikToks related to this topic.  

• Block Accounts or Mute Friends: You can block any account on TikTok whose content you do not want to see. To block an account, go to their profile, click the arrow at the top right of the page, from there the “Block” option will appear where you can choose to block the account. If you wish to mute a Friends video from showing up, go to your Friends feed, hold down on their video, on the pop-up menu will be an option to “Mute their posts”. This will prevent their videos from showing up. 
• Restricted mode: To limit content on a broader scope, users can turn on “Restricted Mode”. When a user turns this on, it limits the number of videos on your For You Page that may not be appropriate for all audiences. To turn this on, click on Profile > Hamburger (three lines) on top right > Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Restricted mode 

• Refresh your “For You” feed: If you are noticing a consistent flow of content that you do not want to see, at any time you can refresh your For You Feed. This feature allows you to reset your preferences, essentially starting fresh on TikTok. From here, you can begin engaging with content that aligns better with your interests. To refresh your feed, click on Profile > Three lines on top right > Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Refresh your For You feed. 

Snapchat 

Snapchat provides some basic settings to help control what users see.  

• Reporting snaps: If you see an inappropriate snap, you can report it to Snapchat. To do so, you press and hold down on the snap and from there a menu will pop up where you can choose to report the snap (see screenshot below). Here is a guide on reporting to Snapchat.

• Adjust privacy settings: This allows you to adjust who can see your story, contact you, see your location, see you in quick add and more. (In general, teens should only add people you know to your Friends list and ensure that your posts are only seen by the people you want to see them. Check out Snapchat’s Safety Center and Support for more information.  

YouTube 

YouTube’s recommendation system is built on an algorithm that predicts what videos or topics you may be interested in based on your previous search and viewing history. To influence or change your recommendation and search results, you can: 

• Remove specific videos from your watch and search history and homepage. Do so by going to myactivity.google.com, Clicking YouTube History, and then Manage History. From there you can click DELETE to choose a timeframe for the videos you would like to delete. 
• Start fresh by deleting your watch and search history. If you find that your homepage is cluttered with content that you do not want to see or that you are not interested in, you can remove these videos. Click on “History” on the left side of the screen to find these options:  

• Curate your homepage: You can remove videos, channels, sections, and playlists from your recommended content on your homepage. To remove content, click the 3 vertical dots on the video. From there, you can choose “Not Interested” or “Don’t recommend channel”.  

Keep in mind, you must be signed into your account to make these changes. This video from YouTube shows how you make these changes within the YouTube platform.  

Resources: 

• Our previous portal response focuses on ways to protect your mental health while still staying informed and involved including limiting the types and quantity of content you see.  
• Common Sense Media – Parent’s Ultimate Guides. If you are looking for more information on a specific site, a good resource is Common Sense Media’s Ultimate Guides. Although they are designed for parents, youth can also utilize these guides to learn more about a particular site and what they can do to enhance their experience on these sites.  

How to control who sees what in your multiple social media accounts

The primary purpose of social media accounts is to help us connect with people all around the world. With the emergence of multiple social media platforms, it has become easy for us to know every detail about someone living miles apart. Numerous social media platforms offer multiple features. 

All these features have multiple purposes. Some of them are business promotional purposes while some other features are for sheer entertainment/information. Such a plethora of features makes us vulnerable to scammers and hackers existing online.

With the growing number of cybercrimes, it is imperative to put a stop to it by implementing more security features. The different social media platforms (primarily Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn) are updated periodically to increase the safety features.

They are doing their part to protect their users. From our end, did you know that we too can take charge of who sees what in our social media accounts? Here is what you can do to control what will be visible in your social media account.

How can you control who sees what in social media platforms?

Choose the audience:

The first thing is to set your audience. Facebook offers the best options to set who can see your posts or your account. When you are going to post something, you will see a dropdown that enables you to choose who can see the post. 

You can set certain parameters for certain posts. You can make it public, you can select “friends only”, and you can choose “only me”. The most customizable option is “friends except”. Here you can select a specific person or a few more people in your friends-list who cannot see a post. 

Source

Public or Private:

Instagram and Twitter don’t come with customized features like Facebook. For any post you do, either that can be a public post or it can be a private post. Thus, it is important to be sure about something before posting something publicly. 

Source

You will have the option to change the accounts back and forth to public and private if needed. Twitter has a feature to protect your Tweets. Go to the settings and then visit “privacy and safety” and enable “protect your tweets”. Visit Instagram settings and select “Privacy and security” and then click on “private account”. 

Hide your stories:

Instagram stories are one of the most used features on this platform. You have the option to hide your stories from certain people while keeping the main photo feed public. Also, you can post stories to a selected group of people or close friends instead of all displaying to all your followers. 

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Visit settings, click on “privacy” and then “story” and select who you don’t want to see your story. You can also configure a list of close friends who can see your story every time you post something. 

Protecting the posts

Social media platforms are updated in such a way that when you post something, you have the option to protect it as well. Twitter allows you to hide replies. Click on the arrow next to the tweet and select “hide reply”. The person will not know it’s hidden.

On Instagram, you can turn off commenting for a post or a story. Visit settings and click on “comments” or “story”. You have the option to only allow people you are following to leave a comment. Also, you can mute offensive comments or turn on the “manual filter” to ensure that specific words don’t appear. 

Source

You can delete existing comments by long-pressing them (for Android0 or by swiping left (for iOS). On Facebook, click on the three dots (from PC) or long-press the comment (in the app) to delete or hide it. The author will not be notified, but if they revisit, they will see their comments have been deleted. 

Blocking the trouble creators

This is a very common safety feature that has been there in all the social media platforms for quite a long time. You can block anyone that causes trouble in your social media platforms. On Twitter and Facebook, you can open up a profile, click the three dots, and then choose “block”.

Instagram will still give you an additional feature, known as “restrict”. It is not a full block. When the person comments on your post, the comments will have to be approved before they become public. Also, they cannot see you online. 

Source

Mute users

If you want to hide someone from the feeds, but you don’t want to block them, then you can mute them instead. They will not know that they have been muted. The posts and comments will not appear to you. 

In Twitter, you can visit the profile, tap the three dots, you will see the menu option. From there you can choose to mute. On Instagram, open a profile, click on “following” and then click on “Mute”. The same can be done on Facebook. Open the profile, tap on “friends” and click on “unfollow”. 

Know this, while commenting on any post, anyone will be able to see your comments whether they are in your friend list or not.

Prevent people from tagging you

Everyone is not comfortable to get tagged in posts and comments. If you are one of them then you can limit the tagging too. For Facebook, go to settings, visit the Timeline, and tagging. Here you can review the posts that you are tagged before they get appeared to your timeline. 

You can limit the wider audience even if you cannot stop them completely from tagging. 

On Instagram, go to settings, choose “tags” and select “manually approve tags”. On Twitter, you cannot stop the mentions, but you can stop the tags in photos. Click on settings, go to “privacy and safety” and then click on “photo tagging”. 

Source

A few more safety features include, not sharing your live location with every single post. It might be great to show off, but not so great to ensure privacy. Do not share personal information like card details or PIN numbers of any other passwords. 

Also, avoid using the same passwords on different social media platforms. Make sure you check the box to “never” when Google asks to “save password” for future use. 

The dark web

The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that allows users to anonymously access content. It’s known for illegal activities, but it’s also used for whistleblowing and other purposes. 

How does the dark web work?

• The dark web is made up of darknets, which are networks that require special software or authorization to access.
• The dark web uses technologies like Tor (The Onion Router) and I2P (Invisible Internet Project) to anonymize users. 
• Tor uses “onion routing” to route users’ information through many relay points, making it harder to track them. 

What happens on the dark web?

• The dark web is used to sell stolen personal information, ransomware, and software exploits. 
• It’s also used for private forums and whistleblowing. 

Is the dark web safe? 

• While Tor is generally considered safe and secure, it’s not completely anonymous.
• Tor users can still be vulnerable to online threats like malware and phishing scams.

How can I protect myself on the dark web? 

• Using a virtual private network (VPN) in conjunction with Tor can provide additional privacy.

What is the Dark Web?

Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is a horrific crime that targets some of the most vulnerable people in our communities — our children and teens. It includes a broad range of criminal acts that involve exploiting minors for sexual gratification or some other personal or financial gain.

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Online CSEA can take many forms. Predators may be a family member or family friend, someone the child knows in person or online or a complete stranger. They work to earn a child’s trust (and sometimes the parent or caregiver’s trust, as well) to develop a relationship where a child feels comfortable doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, such as sharing explicit images or videos of themselves. These images don’t always immediately include nudity or sexual acts; sometimes they feature a child or teen in various stages of undress, and later may progress into more revealing clothing, nudity or other sexual content. This process can happen quickly, as a single interaction, or over time.

Sometimes, children and teens self-produce images or videos and share them with others. If predators get their hands on these images or videos, they can use them to exploit the child or teen.

After someone convinces a child or teen to send sexually explicit material, they usually do whatever it takes to get the child to send more. Sometimes they threaten to share the child’s original images or videos with their friends and family — or with the public — to coerce them into sending more images. They can also financially sextort the child by threatening to share the images unless paid immediately with money or gift cards. In other cases, these people convince their victims that they’re in an intimate relationship together; then, they threaten to end the relationship or harm themselves to get the child or teen to send more sexually explicit material. Online predators may also encourage children or teens to engage in self-harm as a means of control or for the predator’s sexual gratification.

Cellphones, tablets and all connected devices give online predators access to an endless supply of potential victims, from the smallest rural areas to the largest cities. In a brief moment, photos or videos can be shared around the world.

However, there is still hope. Please visit the Take Action page to learn ways to help prevent this crime.

5 Myths and truths about the dark web

The dark web. As if the name doesn’t say it all already! Imagine an iceberg floating in the ocean. We can see about 10% of the iceberg above the water with 90% hidden below the surface. What we see is the popular image of icebergs that everybody is familiar with but hidden out of sight lies something more, something that is there but that not many people know too much about. This is kind of what the dark web is like when you think about the world wide web instead of icebergs. What we see and what everybody thinks of as the internet is just a small part of the overall web. The dark web is the vast part of the internet that most people don’t see.

What exactly is it though? Well, that is what we’re here for today. As most people don’t know too much about the dark web, rumor and myth can take hold. We’re here today to give you a clearer idea of what the dark web actually is and bust a few common web myths that are swirling around the internet.

What is the dark web?

The dark web is the internet that you can’t find through search engines like Google or by clicking on links. The dark web goes beyond things like the BitCoin cryptocurrency and darknet markets like The Silk Road and, in fact, contains around 550 billion documents, which is a lot more than the 1 billion documents that the regular web has. It is very very big. Basically, it is everything that is online but isn’t easy to find. This is fact but it leads into our first common myth about the dark web.

Myth #1 You need special equipment to access the dark web

There is a commonly held misconception that only hackers and people with specialized computer abilities can access the dark web. This isn’t true. You don’t need special server banks or super-powered routers to access the dark web. Not at all. Instead, all you need to access the dark web is a web browser called Tor.

The Tor Project offers a free web browser that allows you to access the dark web. You can’t access the dark web without it, and it works by anonymizing and hiding your browsing activity. Tor, just like 95% of all the content you’ll find on the internet, is free to access.

Myth #2 The dark web is the same thing as the deep web

Both the dark web and the deep web are commonly referred to like each other. In fact, there are technical differences between the two.

The difference between them is how you collect information. The deep web refers to content that is usually locked up behind passwords and held in restricted forums. You can’t access these sites via search engines, but you don’t necessarily need Tor to access them. The Dark Web is all the information that can only be gathered by users who’ve anonymized their traffic using a web browser like the Tor Network.

Myth #3 It is illegal to access the dark web

This is just completely untrue. To the extent that even social media sites like Facebook have a presence on the dark web. In fact, it wasn’t long ago that Wikipedia set up a dark web page called the Hidden Wiki so that people in parts of the world living under government censorship could access the world’s biggest encyclopedia. It is in exactly these parts of the world, however, where it becomes a bit of a grey area.

In countries that like to keep tabs on their citizens and limit what they can see on the internet, the governments usually have laws against encrypting your data. As you need to use Tor browser to access the internet, which anonymizes and encrypts your data, it could be illegal to use Tor browser and therefore accessing the dark web would be illegal, even if there is no explicit law against it.

The other thing you need to consider is that due to its anonymous nature the dark web is filled with illicit information that could be illegal to access.

Myth #4 Only criminals use the dark web

Whereas anonymity does attract a certain kind of cybercriminal and deviant, there are plenty of other people who use the dark web. Sure you can hire a hitman, buy illegal drugs, download child pornography, and do other disgusting illegal activities but there are plenty of normal activities people do on the dark web. Things like socializing, sharing images and movies, and generally using and surfing the web in a similar way to how they browse the regular web.

Like we’ve already mentioned the dark web offers a way for people living under restrictive governments to access controlled information. The dark web also gives journalists and whistleblowers a safe way to communicate without fear of recrimination. They should still be careful, however, because of the final myth we’re going to bust.

Myth #5 You’re completely anonymous when you’re browsing the dark web

If you’re a journalist, whistleblower, or anti-government activist you’re going to have to take some further anonymity precautions than the baseline offered by the Tor browser. Although Tor was built to keep you anonymous and is needed before you can access the dark web it cannot guarantee your privacy on its own. A study concluded that Tor is not “…completely verifiable on the Dark Web.” This shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, however, when you consider just how seriously some governments take their efforts to oppress their people.

The good news, however, is that when combined with another privacy-protecting tool, Tor and the dark web can go a long way to keeping you safe. Using a strong VPN program when accessing the dark web, using Tor, will further enhance your privacy by masking your IP address and encrypting your data even further before communicating with your internet service provider. VPNs can even go so far as to hide the country you’re accessing the dark web from. If you’re busting out government secrets in China, a strong VPN can make it look like your connecting to the internet from the US.

How to Access the Dark Web Safely: A 2025 Beginner’s Guide

Accessing the dark web isn’t 100% safe, even if you use Tor. Your ISP can still see your activity and may report it. It’s monitored because the dark web is linked to illegal activities like drug trafficking, weapon sales, and data breaches. Plus, it’s a known location for cybercriminals who want to steal data and jeopardize your device’s security.

There are a few ways you can boost security when using the dark web: making sure Tor settings are optimized, only visiting trusted sites, and using a VPN all help improve privacy. Of all the options I looked at, a VPN is the best way to access the dark web safely.

VPNs are easy to use and encrypt your connections to ensure your activity can’t be traced back to you — your ISP won’t even know you’re accessing the dark web. A service like ExpressVPN is a great choice, with premium security features and fast connection speeds. Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Safely access the dark web with ExpressVPN

Quick Guide: How to Access the Dark Web Safely in 3 Easy Steps

1. Get a trustworthy VPN. With top-tier security and privacy features, plus fast speeds to mitigate slow Tor connections, ExpressVPN is the best option for the dark web.
2. Download the Tor browser. Visit the Tor download page and select your device. Once it’s downloaded, you can configure the browser or connect immediately.
3. Explore the dark web! Connect to a local VPN server and then open Tor to ensure you have maximum security on the dark web.

What Is the Dark Web?

The internet consists of 3 layers: the surface web (or clear web), the deep web, and the dark web.

The Surface Web

The surface web, or clear web, is part of the internet we use every day. It includes news websites, social media, and online shops like Amazon — sites that we can browse directly, without logging in.

The Deep Web

The deep web includes websites that are not open to the public. You need a special link or password to access the sites, as search engines like Google can’t find them. The deep web stores private content like emails, subscription services, and company websites with sensitive data (like medical or financial information).

The Dark Web

The dark web is part of the deep web that isn’t easily accessible. You can’t browse it just by logging in because dark web sites use hidden IP addresses hosted in encrypted networks — dark web activity is fully anonymous and untraceable.

To reach a dark website, you need a secure browser like Tor. It works similarly to other browsers like Chrome or Firefox, but channels data through a series of connections rather than going directly to your online destination. This is more secure, but much slower.

Websites on the dark web have randomly created URLs consisting of up to 56 letters and numbers. For Tor, instead of using .com or .net, dark web sites end in .onion.

Note: The dark web has both legal and illegal websites, and it is unregulated. While some uses are legitimate, it can also host illegal activities. Always be cautious and follow the law when using any part of the internet.

Step-by-Step Guide: Access the Dark Web Safely on Any Device

Download and Connect to a VPN

1. Get a VPN with strong encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and leak protection. ExpressVPN is compatible with Tor. Plus, it’s highly secure and fast.
2. Download the VPN to your device. Most VPNs have apps for multiple platforms.
3. Connect to a server. Choosing a nearby server, or letting your VPN auto-connect you to the best option, ensures a fast and reliable connection.

Download and Install Tor

Download Tor from its official website at torproject.org. Avoid fraudulent Tor-like browsers that compromise your online security. The browser is free to download and works on multiple operating systems.

Instructions vary depending on your operating system:

Windows

1. Visit the Tor Project website and click “Download for Windows.”
   
2. Click the installer and follow the setup prompts. You can choose your language preference and an installation location for Tor.
   
3. Click “Install.” Once installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to click “Finish.”
4. You can now launch Tor using the main menu or your desktop shortcut.

Mac

1. Download the Tor browser for Mac from the official Tor Project website. Click “Download for macOS.”
   
2. Double-click the Tor .dmg file in your downloads folder to install the browser.
3. You’ll see a screen with a Tor icon and the Applications folder. Drag the icon into the Applications folder to install Tor.
   
4. Launch Tor using the Launchpad or shortcut on your toolbar.
   

Linux

1. Download Tor for Linux from the Tor Project website.
2. Right-click on the file and choose “Extract here.” A new folder will be created with the extracted contents.
3. Open the new folder. There will be another folder inside that you need to access called “Browser.”
4. Double-click the Tor icon to launch the browser. You might have to confirm that you trust the downloaded application in order to open it.

Android

1. Visit the Tor Project website on your Android.
2. Tap “Go to Google Play.”
3. Tap “Install”.
4. Tap “Connect”.
5. Verify connection at check.torproject.org.

iPhone

Tor developers created a reliable and secure app to allow iPhone users to access The Onion Browser, which you can get by following the steps below:

1. Open the App Store on your iPhone.
2. Search for “Onion Browser.”
3. Tap “Get and Install.”
4. Launch Onion Browser.
5. Tap “Connect.”

Set Up the Tor Browser

When you launch Tor for the first time, you’ll be prompted to configure your settings. Check security settings by clicking the shield icon on the browser toolbar. There are three levels: Standard, Safer, and Safest. Standard is the default setting and provides secure browsing. Safer and Safest boost security, but increased protection can stop sites from working properly.

I recommend enabling all available add-ons to maximize security. By default, NoScript is already enabled — this disables JavaScript on untrusted sites. Go to the menu in the top right-hand corner and select “Add-ons” for further optimization.

Safely Browse the Dark Web With Tor

Consider using a safe dark web search engine like DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/) to find the sites you’re looking for. If you already know the websites you want to access, insert the .onion link into Tor’s webpage bar.

Important! Don’t change the Tor browser screen at any point when you’re using it. Even if you manually resize the browser window, you’re still leaving your digital footprint, which can be used by the authorities or hackers to gather your personal information.

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Additional Tips for Safe Browsing on the Dark Web

1. Don’t reveal your real identity — try to avoid using information that can be traced back to you — use an encrypted email service (like Proton Mail) and separate email address and username, turn off your device location, cover your camera and microphone, and opt for cryptocurrency payments when making purchases.
2. Use a different operating system — a privacy-focused operating system, like Tails or Linux, provides a greater level of security overall. They work with Tor to ensure your activities remain private, offer more control over your data, and have more security features.
3. Update your device and browser — regular updates protect your device and browser from vulnerabilities and protect you from hackers, malware, and data breaches.
4. Disable JavaScript — JavaScript is used to create interactive elements on websites, but it can be exploited to reveal your IP address, bypass VPN and Tor protections, and execute malicious code on your device — disabling it minimizes the risk of being de-anonymized.
5. Use an antivirus — antivirus software with real-time protection defends your device against viruses, Trojans, phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and other harmful programs.
6. Open downloads offline — this minimizes the risk of malware “phoning home” to an attacker’s server, which could lead to data exfiltration, remote control of your device, or tracking and tracing your identity.
7. Only visit trusted sites — visiting unknown sites poses significant risks, including phishing and malware, illegal content, or fraudulent marketplaces — stick to trusted and well-known websites, or use reputable directories or search engines to find websites.

The Best VPNs for Accessing the Dark Web Safely (Tested 2025)

1. ExpressVPN — TrustedServer Technology Ensures None of Your Data Is Stored

Outstanding

📍Servers	3,000+
📱Devices	8
💰Refund	30 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

• 3,000+ servers in 105 countries to access the dark web safely
• TrustedServer network uses RAM-based servers which are regularly wiped clean
• Allows 8 simultaneous device connections
• Keeps your Tor browsing secure with military-grade AES-256 encryption and advanced leak protection
• Subscriptions start at $4.99/month for a 2-year + 4 months free plan
• 30-day money-back guarantee

ExpressVPN uses TrustedServer technology across its network, meaning all servers are RAM-based and wiped at regular reboots. This reduces the risk of your sensitive data falling into the wrong hands when you access the dark web.

You need the best security available to combat threats when you use Tor, and ExpressVPN has a range of top-tier features, including:

• Network Lock kill switch — automatically disconnects your device from the internet if the VPN connection drops, preventing data leaks.
• AES-256 military-grade encryption — ensures your data remains secure and unreadable by potential attackers.
• Perfect forward secrecy (PFS) — regularly changes encryption keys, protecting encrypted messages from future hacking.
• Obfuscated servers — help bypass VPN blocking and censorship by disguising VPN traffic as regular internet traffic.
• DNS/IPv6 leak protection — protects your real IP address from being accidentally exposed.
• Headquarters in the British Virgin Islands — a privacy-friendly location without data retention laws.

Although its servers use the highest security, ExpressVPN doesn’t compromise your speed. ExpressVPN’s speeds consistently outperformed other VPNs, making it the best option for accessing the dark web. This is crucial as Tor connections are generally slower than standard browsers.

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

ExpressVPN works on: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebook, Android, iOS, and more.

2025 Update! You can subscribe to ExpressVPN for as low as $ 4.99 per month + get extra 4 months free with the 2-year plan (save up to 61%)! This is a limited offer so grab it now before it’s gone. See more information on this offer here.

2. CyberGhost — NoSpy Servers Ensure Maximum Security While Browsing the Dark Web

Outstanding

📍Servers	11,676+
📱Devices	7
💰Refund	45 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

• 11,670+ servers in 100 countries to browse the dark web
• NoSpy servers offer added protection as no third party can access them
• Content blocker, military-grade encryption, a verified no-logs policy, and an automatic kill switch to boost your safety on the dark web
• Secure 7 devices simultaneously
• Subscriptions start at $2.03/month for a 2-year + 4 months plan
• 45-day money-back guarantee

CyberGhost’s NoSpy servers, located in Romania, are ideal for accessing the dark web safely. These servers are managed in-house by CyberGhost, ensuring no third parties can access or tamper with the data. Romania’s strong privacy laws also protect your anonymity, making CyberGhost a reliable VPN for keeping your dark web activities secure and private.

CyberGhost offers a range of features designed to enhance your security while using the Tor network, including:

• Automatic kill switch — ensures that if your VPN connection drops, your internet connection is immediately cut off, preventing any data from leaking.
• Leak protection for DNS and IPv6 — ensures your real IP address and location remain hidden.
• Zero-log privacy policy — guarantees that none of your online activities are tracked or recorded, giving you peace of mind while exploring the dark web.
• Auto-connect configuration — allows you to set up CyberGhost to automatically connect to a server whenever the Tor browser is opened, creating a seamless and secure Tor over VPN connection.

It’s worth noting that CyberGhost isn’t as fast over long-distance connections. This could be an issue when using the NoSpy servers as you may experience slower speeds.

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

CyberGhost works on: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebook, Android, iOS, and more.

2025 Update! You can subscribe to CyberGhost for as low as $2.03 per month + get an extra 4 months free with the 2-year plan (save up to 83%)! This is a limited offer so grab it now before it’s gone. See more information on this offer here.

3. Private Internet Access (PIA) — Advanced Security Settings to Fine-Tune Dark Web Connections

Excellent

📍Servers	35,000+
📱Devices	Unlimited
💰Refund	30 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

• 35,000+ servers in 91 countries
• Built-in ad, tracker, and malware feature (MACE) protects you from potential online threats
• Access the dark web from unlimited devices simultaneously
• Military-grade encryption and no-logs policy keep your dark web activity private
• Subscriptions start at $2.19/month for a 2-year + 2 months plan
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a top choice for accessing the dark web due to its advanced security settings. These let you fine-tune your connection, with extensive customization options for encryption protocols (AES-128 or AES-256), DNS settings, and proxy settings — all to boost security and privacy when accessing the dark web.

PIA includes several key features designed to protect your privacy on the dark web:

• Zero-log privacy policy — ensures that none of your online activities are monitored or recorded, maintaining anonymity.
• Kill switch — automatically cuts internet connections if the VPN connection drops, preventing data leaks.
• Leak protection — DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak protection prevents your real IP address from being exposed, keeping your identity hidden.
• MACE ad, tracker, and malware blocker — safeguards you from malicious ads and websites, which are common threats on the dark web.

One minor drawback of PIA is that you may occasionally experience difficulties connecting to Tor if the kill switch is enabled. If this happens, it’s advisable to contact PIA’s customer support for assistance in troubleshooting the issue.

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as Private Internet Access. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

PIA works on: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and more.

2025 Update! You can subscribe to PIA for as low as $2.19 per month + get an extra 2 months free with the 2-year plan (save up to 82%)! This is a limited offer, so grab it now before it’s gone! See more information on this offer here!

Why You Need a VPN to Be Safe on the Dark Web

Onion routing makes it more difficult for third parties to trace your data back to you, but it’s still possible to identify you through Tor. Without a VPN, your IP address is exposed to anyone who wants to find it. There are also risks of data breaches if the security of the Tor website you are using is compromised.

For example, in 2014 the FBI caught users involved in illegal activity on the dark web because of a security issue with JavaScript. In 2017, a system failure resulted in multiple websites crashing and exposing the IP addresses of many of its users. Though Tor developers tend to fix issues quickly, they can’t always keep up with them.

A VPN encrypts your data before it reaches your ISP. It also hides your IP address by relocating your virtual location. That way, your ISP won’t know you’re browsing on Tor, and your activity will remain private.

VPN Over Tor or Tor Over VPN: Which Is Better?

While using Tor alone provides some anonymity, it may not be enough to protect you from surveillance, traffic analysis, or malicious exit nodes. To enhance security, you can opt for either a VPN over Tor or Tor over VPN setup.

VPN Over Tor

When you use VPN over Tor, your internet traffic first goes through the Tor network, which hides your identity by bouncing your connection through several different computers around the world. After that, your traffic goes through a VPN, which adds another layer of protection by encrypting your data and hiding your location.

This configuration offers several advantages, including:

• Enhanced privacy through the combination of Tor’s multi-hop routing and VPN encryption.
• The ability to bypass ISP blocks on Tor, enabling access to otherwise restricted websites.
• Protection against malicious exit nodes, as the VPN server obscures the final destination of your traffic.

One disadvantage of VPN over Tor is that you might get slower connection speeds due to the combined overhead of the Tor network and VPN encryption.

Tor Over VPN

In the Tor over VPN setup, you first connect to a VPN and then use the Tor network. This means your ISP can see that you’re using a VPN, but they won’t know you’re using Tor. It’s easy to set up because many VPN providers have built-in support for Tor over VPN.

One issue with this method is that you may be vulnerable to malicious exit nodes since your traffic exits the Tor network before being encrypted by the VPN.

Using Tor over VPN is the most secure choice for accessing the dark web because it hides your activity and identity from your ISP and other third parties (like government authorities) who might be able to detect your Tor usage.

No matter which setup you choose, be sure to use a top VPN with a strict no-logs policy to maintain your privacy and resist potential government pressure to disclose user data.

Alternatives to the Tor Browser

While Tor is the best option for browsing the dark web, there are alternatives that offer different levels of accessibility and security. It’s crucial to remember that browsing the dark web always involves risks, so using a VPN for added security is advisable.

• I2P — The Invisible Internet Project allows access to its unique sites called “eepsites.” I2P doesn’t provide access to as many sites as Tor and can be difficult to manually configure. However, I2P is faster and provides better peer-to-peer security than Tor, using one-way tunnels to encrypt traffic. I2P also has a distributed network database that is more resistant to attacks than Tor’s Directory servers.
• Freenet — Only provides access to content uploaded on the Freenet network (not to .onion links). Freenet is an anonymous platform for peer-to-peer content sharing, offering both private and random peer connections. Freenet is much more straightforward to set up and use, and runs automatically in your web browser when opened — I recommend using a different browser than usual to maintain privacy.

Is the Dark Web Illegal?

The dark web is legal to access in most countries, but it can be used for illegal purposes like hacking, selling and buying drugs, and child pornography. Governments and special services worldwide work tirelessly to locate and punish anyone involved in such activities, but it often takes months or years to catch cybercriminals.

Some of the most popular crime stores from the dark web include:

• Silk Road — the first digital marketplace selling illegal goods and services, including guns, forged paperwork, and drugs, with users making anonymous purchases with Bitcoin. Silk Road’s founder, Ross Ulbricht, was arrested in 2013 after the FBI discovered he had set up the website using his real name and email. He was sentenced to life in prison after detectives seized $48 million earned in commissions.
• Hieu Minh Ngo — a hacker who stole the bank details, names, and Social Security numbers of more than 200 million US citizens and sold the data on the dark web. Minh Ngo earned up to $2 million through online transactions before his arrest — he was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison.
• Shannon Grant McCoole — a worker for the Australian Department of Child Protection who launched a child pornography website, uploading explicit interactions with children as young as 18 months old. He was arrested in 2014 and the police discovered more than 100,000 images and 600 videos of exploitation on his personal computer — he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
• Ashley Madison — a popular dating site for extramarital affairs that fell victim to a dark web hacker attack in 2015, stealing over 60GB of user data. After ignoring the hackers’ demands to shut the site down, the hackers published personal information, including user emails and home addresses — the hackers’ identities remain unknown.

Though extremely unsettling, these are only a few out of hundreds of illegal activities taking place on the dark web every day. However, the dark web isn’t all bad, and you can use it to engage in many useful and legal digital practices.

What You Can Use the Dark Web For

Despite the dark web’s bad reputation, it provides a way for many people to bypass local digital restrictions and access content unavailable in certain countries. Users also view the dark web as a platform to exercise their right to freedom of speech and privacy. Though not exhaustive, these are the most popular positive uses of the dark web:

1. Stay Anonymous Online

The dark web has many social media platforms, gaming websites, and ultra-secure email services. Plus, your online activity is anonymous and can’t easily be traced by hackers and government authorities. It also allows you to bypass censorship and access websites otherwise restricted in many Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

Warning! Don’t log into personal accounts (e.g., online banking or email) on the dark web. Your activity becomes linked to your profile, even if you use Tor. Instead, use a dummy email address.

2. Exposing Corruption

Multiple online magazines and news channels like CNN, FOX, and NBC have open sites on the dark web to receive anonymous tips from online users.

Journalists and whistleblowers regularly turn to the dark web to share controversial information about government representatives, celebrities, or money scandals, like tax evasion. This ensures that activists exposing illegal practices can avoid prosecution.

3. Sharing Personal Stories

Due to the anonymity it provides, many people use the dark web to share their personal stories. This ranges from websites with advice on a variety of topics to online support forums where people discuss traumatic experiences like physical or sexual abuse. It’s a way to connect with other victims and seek help without revealing your identity.

4. Buying Things Anonymously

While I don’t condone purchasing any illegal items, there are many legitimate reasons to buy products and services on the dark web. This includes buying software, electronic devices, or medication.

Warning! Be careful when buying on the dark web. Due to the lack of regulations and the fact that many illegal and stolen items are sold daily on the digital market, you can never be sure what you’re getting. Before making any transactions, check buyer reviews and seller ratings. Also, remember to only use cryptocurrencies as a payment method.

5. Getting Medical Advice

Some doctors offer advice to patients on the Dark Web. Practitioners can be found on various medical forums as well as their own websites. This is a great way to get assistance and advice for those who want to keep their conditions private.

The most popular “Drug Counselor,” who goes by the nickname DoctorX, has answered hundreds of questions regarding drug addiction, self-harm, and more.

6. Joining Online Communities

By browsing Tor, you can find similar sites and online communities that you’d find on the clear web, including clubs and social networks.

Always avoid engaging in any forums involving illegal activities (like sharing sensitive material), as you could face prosecution.

7. Research

The dark web can be a valuable resource for academic research and data gathering, providing access to information that may be difficult to find on the surface web. This includes unpublished works, controversial articles, and unique primary sources across a range of topics.

Researchers can also use the anonymous communication features on the dark web to interact with experts, insiders, and fellow researchers while protecting their privacy. However, it is essential to verify sources, cross-check data, and avoid accessing or engaging in illegal content to avoid serious legal repercussions.

The Risks & Dangers of the Dark Web

Malware

Hackers create fraudulent dark websites containing malware that can infect your computer. These malicious programs can record keystrokes, steal documents and financial data, record audio and video from your computer, or even hijack your personal device for blackmail.

As it’s often difficult to tell whether sites on the dark web are legitimate, it’s easy to download malware without knowing. To stay safe, use the dark web with a specific aim in mind and do research beforehand to get a list of trustworthy links.

Criminal Activity

The dark web is used by criminals to sell stolen goods, weapons, drugs, and fake documents. Criminals also use the dark web to hire hackers and assassins. Some sites have disturbing and illegal content like child pornography or live-streamed murders. I strongly advise against browsing random sites to avoid accessing unsettling content.

Surveillance

Law enforcement agencies and governments monitor the dark web to catch criminals. As it’s incredibly difficult to identify users on the dark web, governments sometimes set up fake illegal websites to catch cybercriminals. In some countries, you can attract the attention of the authorities simply by using a browser like Tor.

Fraudulent Sites

Fraudulent sites may impersonate popular online marketplaces, financial services, or charitable organizations to deceive users into providing sensitive information. This can include login credentials, credit card numbers, and personal details. Always verify the authenticity of a site before providing any personal information or making transactions.

FAQs on Accessing the Dark Web Safely

Can I access the dark web without Tor?

Yes, you can access the dark web without Tor, but I don’t recommend it. There are alternative networks, such as I2P and Freenet, but they have some limitations and might not provide the same level of anonymity and security as Tor. Tor is specifically designed to access the dark web and provide a high level of anonymity.

Can I access the dark web on Chromebook?

You can, but it’s tricky. Tor Project doesn’t have a Chromebook app, but you can use the official Android app with ChromeOS. However, this hasn’t been audited by Tor Project, so privacy features may not work as expected. There’s also a way to run the Linux subsystem on Chromebook and use Tor this way, but it’s a complicated process.

How can I find websites on the dark web?

You can use dark web search engines, directories, and forums to find websites on the dark web. Don’t forget to use a VPN while browsing the dark web, even if it seems safe.

Here are some useful websites on the dark web:

1. The Hidden Wiki — the Wikipedia of the dark web (http://zqktlwiuavvvqqt4ybvgvi7tyo4hjl5xgfuvpdf6otjiycgwqbym2qad.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)
2. DuckDuckGo — a privacy-focused search engine for the dark web and the surface web (https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/)
3. Proton Mail — free, anonymous, and secure email provider (https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion/mail)
4. ProPublica — award-winning news publication (http://p53lf57qovyuvwsc6xnrppyply3vtqm7l6pcobkmyqsiofyeznfu5uqd.onion/)
5. Dread — the dark web equivalent to Reddit (http://g66ol3eb5ujdckzqqfmjsbpdjufmjd5nsgdipvxmsh7rckzlhywlzlqd.onion/)

Note: While these websites are considered safe, it’s crucial to exercise caution and use a combination of Tor and a reliable VPN when browsing the dark web to ensure your privacy and security.

Is there a dark web search engine?

Yes, there are many dark web search engines, but they don’t work as well as services like Google — the dark web changes frequently, so you may get dead links and unhelpful results. Sites found through these search engines may be dangerous, so be sure to research before visiting any sites and use a reliable VPN to protect your privacy.

Here are 3 dark web search engines that work efficiently:

• DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/
• Torch: http://xmh57jrknzkhv6y3ls3ubitzfqnkrwxhopf5aygthi7d6rplyvk3noyd.onion/
• Ahima: http://juhanurmihxlp77nkq76byazcldy2hlmovfu2epvl5ankdibsot4csyd.onion/

Is it legal to access the dark web?

Yes, it’s legal to access the dark web in most countries, as long as you don’t commit unlawful acts. Some legitimate reasons to access the dark web include secure communication, enhanced privacy and anonymity, bypassing censorship, whistleblowing, and conducting research.

Can I access the dark web with a VPN?

Yes, you can access the dark web with a VPN, but you also need to use the Tor browser. A VPN helps to enhance your security and privacy on the dark web, encrypting your internet traffic so no one can track your activities. The best way is to use the “Tor over VPN” method and connect to a VPN server first, then launch the Tor browser.

Why isn’t the dark web stopped or shut down?

While law enforcement agencies worldwide have tried to stop illegal activities on the dark web, the nature of the dark web and lack of resources makes it difficult to exert control. The dark web is technically complex and has international jurisdiction, and it has legitimate uses — including allowing freedom of speech — so it’s unlikely to be shut down.

Can my ISP see that I am accessing the dark web?

If you don’t use a VPN before connecting to Tor, your ISP can see that you’re accessing the dark web. Connecting to a VPN before opening Tor prevents your ISP from seeing your online activity — it can only see that you’re connected to a VPN. You can connect to a VPN after opening Tor, but your ISP will see that you’re using Tor.

Can I be traced, tracked, or hacked if I access the dark web?

Yes, it’s possible to be traced, tracked, or hacked if you access the dark web. While it provides a level of privacy and anonymity, it’s not foolproof — your activity can be monitored or traced by third parties like government agencies or cybercriminals.

In addition, the dark web is home to a range of illegal activities and content, including drug trafficking, weapon sales, and cybercrime, which can attract the attention of law enforcement agencies and other authorities.

Warning! If you do not take proper precautions, such as using a secure VPN with a Tor browser, your online activity and personal information may be at risk of being hacked or compromised. This can lead to identity theft, financial fraud, and other serious consequences.

Can I access the dark web with a free VPN?

You may be able to access the dark web with a free VPN, but I don’t recommend it. It’s essential to use a VPN with strong security features, and free VPNs often lack the secure protocols necessary to protect your online activity. Free VPNs also often collect and share user data with third parties, and can have slow, unstable connections.

If you really want to use a free VPN with the dark web, there are some safe and secure free VPNs that provide a level of protection. However, you’ll only get comprehensive service from a premium VPN provider.

Access the Dark Web Safely With Tor Over VPN

The dark web provides users with digital freedom and unlimited resources, and there are plenty of positive ways to browse despite its negative reputation. However, it’s vital to follow precautions to use the dark web safely.

Avoid sharing personal information, and use an antivirus and reputable VPN to access the dark web safely. The best VPN for the dark web is ExpressVPN, with top security features and reliably fast speeds for safe, smooth browsing. All ExpressVPN plans are backed by a 30-day guarantee, so you can get a full refund if it’s not right for you.

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Summary — The Best VPNs to Access the Dark Web Safely in 2025

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Child Pornography on the Internet

The Problem of Internet Child Pornography

The guide begins by describing the problem and reviewing factors that increase the risks of Internet child pornography. It then identifies a series of questions that might assist you in analyzing your local Internet child pornography problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem and what is known about these from evaluative research and police practice.

The treatment of children as sexual objects has existed through the ages, and so too has the production of erotic literature and drawings involving children. However, pornography in the modern sense began with the invention of the camera in the early nineteenth century. Almost immediately, sexualized images involving children were produced, traded, and collected.[1]Even so, child pornography remained a restricted activity through most of the twentieth century. Images were usually locally produced, of poor quality, expensive, and difficult to obtain. The relaxation of censorship standards in the 1960s led to an increase in the availability of child pornography, and, by 1977, some 250 child pornography magazines were circulating in the United States, many imported from Europe.[2]Despite concern about the extent of child pornography, law enforcement agencies had considerable success in stemming the trafficking of these traditional hard-copy forms. However, the advent of the Internet in the 1980s dramatically changed the scale and nature of the child pornography problem, and has required new approaches to investigation and control.

Internet child pornography is unlike most crimes local police departments handle. Local citizens may access child pornography images that were produced and/or stored in another city or on another continent. Alternatively, they may produce or distribute images that are downloaded by people thousands of miles away. An investigation that begins in one police district will almost certainly cross jurisdictional boundaries. Therefore, most of the major investigations of Internet child pornography have involved cooperation among jurisdictions, often at an international level.

However, within this broader scheme, local police departments have a crucial role to play. By concentrating on components of the problem that occur within their local jurisdictions, they may uncover evidence that initiates a wider investigation. Alternatively, they may receive information from other jurisdictions about offenders in their districts. Because of the increasing use of computers in society, most police departments are likely to encounter Internet child pornography crimes. Therefore, it is important that all police departments develop strategies for dealing with the problem. Larger departments or districts may have their own dedicated Internet child pornography teams, but most smaller ones do not, and the responsibility for day-to-day investigations will fall to general-duties officers.[3]It would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of local police in detecting and preventing Internet child pornography offenses. One study found that 56 percent of arrests for Internet child pornography crimes originated from non-specialized law enforcement agencies.[4]

Related Problems

Internet child pornography is only one of a number of problems related to either child abuse or the Internet. Other related problems not directly addressed by this guide include:

Child Abuse

• Violence and fatalities
• Neglect
• Abandonment
• Exposure to hazardous materials (e.g., clandestine drug labs)
• Trafficking of children and babies and illegal adoption agencies
• Juvenile runaways.

Internet Crime

• Online solicitation of children for sexual activity
• Identity theft (sometimes known as phishing)
• Hacking.

Defining Child Pornography 

Legal Definitions

The idea of protecting children from sexual exploitation is relatively modern. As late as the 1880s in the United States, the age of consent for girls was just 10 years.[5]In 1977, only two states had legislation specifically outlawing the use of children in obscene material. The first federal law concerning child pornography was passed in 1978, and the first laws that specifically referred to computers and child pornography were passed in 1988. Since that time, there has been a steady tightening of child pornography laws[6](see Table 1).

Table 1: Development of child pornography law in the United States
Date	Legislation/Ruling [7]	Comment
1978	Sexual Exploitation of Children Act	First federal law specifically dealing with child pornography. Prohibited the manufacture and commercial distribution of obscene material involving minors under 16.
1982	New York v. Ferber	Child pornography not protected by the First Amendment. Child pornography separated from obscenity laws, to be judged on a different standard.
1984	Child Protection Act	Age of minor covered by child pornography legislation was raised to 18, and distinction between child pornography and obscenity codified.
1986	United States v. Dost	Expanded the definition of child pornography to include sexually suggestive depictions of a lascivious nature.
1988	Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act	Illegal to use a computer to depict or advertise child pornography.
1990	Osborne v. Ohio	Private possession of child pornography ruled to be illegal.
1996	Child Pornography Protection Act	Definition of child pornography expanded to include virtual images of children and images that appear to be of a minor.
1998	Child Protector and Sexual Predator Punishment Act	Internet Service Providers (ISPs) required to report known incidents of child pornography to authorities, but not required to actively monitor customers or sites.
2002	Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition	Virtual images ruled not to be pornography; “appear to be a minor” ruled to be too broad.

To summarize the current federal legal situation in the United States:

• A child is defined as any person under the age of 18. Legislation has attempted to broaden the law to include computer-generated images (virtual images that do not involve real children) and people over 18 who appear to be minors. However, the court overturned both of these provisions. Congress has subsequently made a number of amendments to tighten federal law in these areas. Because of the evolving nature of legal provision with respect to Internet child pornography, the reader is advised to obtain up-to-date legal advice on the current situation.
• A different and more stringent standard is applied to images involving children than to images involving adults. Pornography involving a child does not have to involve obscene behavior, but may include sexually explicit conduct that is lascivious or suggestive. For example, in United States v. Knox (1993)[8]a man was convicted for possessing videos in which the camera focused on the clothed genital region of young girls.[9]
• Possession of (not just production and trading of) child pornography is an offense. In the case of the Internet, images do not have to be saved for an offense to have occurred—they simply need to have been accessed.

Most states have followed the federal lead with specific legislation, allowing state police to join federal agencies in the fight against child pornography.[10]However, the exact nature of the legislation varies considerably among states. There is also a wide variation in international laws covering child pornography, and this can have significant implications for law enforcement.

Non-legal Definitions

Because legal definitions of both child and pornography differ considerably among jurisdictions, for research purposes child pornography is often defined broadly as any record of sexual activity involving a prepubescent person. Pornographic records include still photographs, videos, and audio recordings. The images themselves vary considerably in their graphic content. In some cases individuals may collect images that do not involve overt pornography and are not technically illegal. There are 10 levels of image severity:[11]

1. Indicative: non-sexualized pictures collected from legitimate sources (e.g., magazines, catalogs).
2. Nudist: naked or semi-naked pictures of children in appropriate settings collected from legitimate sources.
3. Erotica: pictures taken secretly of children in which they reveal varying degrees of nakedness.
4. Posing: posed pictures of children in varying degrees of nakedness.
5. Erotic posing: pictures of children in sexualized poses and in varying degrees of nakedness.
6. Explicit erotic posing: pictures emphasizing the genitals.
7. Explicit sexual activity: record of sexual activity involving children but not involving adults.
8. Assault: record of children subjected to sexual abuse involving digital touching with adults.
9. Gross assault: record of children subjected to sexual abuse involving penetrative sex, masturbation, or oral sex with adults.
10. Sadistic/bestiality: record of children subjected to pain, or engaging in sexual activity with an animal.

The Role of the Internet in Promoting Child Pornography

The Internet has escalated the problem of child pornography by increasing the amount of material available, the efficiency of its distribution, and the ease of its accessibility. (See Appendix A for a summary of key terms and concepts relating to the Internet.) Specifically, the Internet:

• Permits access to vast quantities of pornographic images from around the world
• Makes pornography instantly available at any time or place
• Allows pornography to be accessed (apparently) anonymously and privately
• Facilitates direct communication and image sharing among users
• Delivers pornography relatively inexpensively
• Provides images that are of high digital quality, do not deteriorate, and can be conveniently stored
• Provides for a variety of formats (pictures, videos, sound), as well as the potential for real-time and interactive experiences
• Permits access to digital images that have been modified to create composite or virtual images (morphing).

Components of the Problem

The problem of Internet child pornography can be divided into three components—the production, distribution, and downloading of images. In some cases, the same people are involved in each stage. However, some producers and/or distributors of child pornography are motivated solely by financial gain and are not themselves sexually attracted to children.

Production

This involves the creation of pornographic images. Collectors place a premium on new child pornography material. However, many images circulating on the Internet may be decades old, taken from earlier magazines and films. Images may be produced professionally, and, in these cases, often document the abuse of children in third-world countries. However, more commonly, amateurs make records of their own sexual abuse exploits, particularly now that electronic recording devices such as digital cameras and web cams permit individuals to create high quality, homemade images.[12]With the advent of multimedia messaging (MMR) mobile phones, clandestine photography of children in public areas is becoming an increasing problem.

Distribution

This involves the uploading and dissemination of pornographic images. These images may be stored on servers located almost anywhere in the world. Distribution may involve sophisticated pedophile rings or organized crime groups that operate for profit, but in many cases, is carried out by individual amateurs who seek no financial reward. Child pornography may be uploaded to the Internet on websites or exchanged via e-mail, instant messages, newsgroups, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Efforts by law enforcement agencies and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to stop the dissemination of child pornography on the Internet have led to changes in offenders’ methods. Child pornography websites are often shut down as soon as they are discovered, and openly trading in pornography via e-mail or chat rooms is risky because of the possibility of becoming ensnared in a police sting operation (e.g., undercover police entering chat rooms posing as pedophiles or as minor children). Increasingly those distributing child pornography are employing more sophisticated security measures to elude detection and are being driven to hidden levels of the Internet (see Table 2).

Table 2: Distribution methods of child pornography on the Internet [13]
Method	Use
Web pages and websites	Specific child pornography websites may be created, or child pornography images may be embedded in general pornography sites. However, there is debate about how much child pornography is available on the web. Some argue that it is relatively easy to find images.[14] Others argue that, because of the vigilance of ISPs and police in tracking down and closing child pornography websites, it is unlikely that a normal web search using key words such as childporn would reveal much genuine child pornography.[15] Instead, the searcher is likely to find legal pornographic sites with adults purporting to be minors, ‘sting’ operations, or vigilante sites. One strategy of distributors is to post temporary sites that are then advertised on pedophile bulletin boards. To prolong their existence these sites may be given innocuous names (e.g., volleyball) or other codes (e.g., ch*ldp*rn) to pass screening software. The websites may be immediately flooded with hits before they are closed down. Often the websites contain Zip archives, the password for which is then later posted on a bulletin board.
Web cam	Images of abuse may be broadcast in real time. In one documented case of a live broadcast, viewers could make online requests for particular sexual activities to be carried out on the victim.[16]
E-mail	E-mail attachments are sometimes used by professional distributors of child pornography, but more frequently they are used to share images among users, or they are sent to a potential victim as part of the grooming/seduction process. This method is considered risky by seasoned users because of the danger in unwittingly sending e-mails to undercover police posing as pedophiles or as potential victims.
E-groups	Specific child pornography e-groups exist to permit members to receive and share pornographic images and exchange information about new sites. Some of these groups appear on reputable servers and are swiftly shut down when they are detected. However, they may use code names or camouflage child pornography images among legal adult pornography to prolong their existence.
Newsgroups	Specific child pornography newsgroups provide members with a forum in which to discuss their sexual interests in children and to post child pornography. This is one of the major methods of distributing child pornography. Some child pornography newsgroups are well known to both users and authorities (for example, the abpep-t or alternative binaries pictures erotica pre-teen group). Most commercial servers block access to such sites. Some servers do provide access to them but a user runs the risk of having his/her identity captured either by the credit card payments required for access, or the record kept by the server of his/her IP address. However, a computer-savvy user can access these groups by using techniques that hide his/her identity by concealing his/her true IP address.
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)	Bulletin boards may be used legally to host discussions that provide advice to seekers of child pornography, including the URLs of child pornography websites and ratings of those sites. These bulletin boards may be monitored by system administrators to exclude bogus or irrelevant postings, such as from vigilantes.
Chat rooms	Chat rooms may be used to exchange child pornography and locate potential victims. Chat rooms may be password-protected. Open chat rooms are avoided by seasoned child pornographers because they are often infiltrated by undercover police.
Peer-to-peer (P2P)	P2P networks facilitate file sharing among child pornography users. These networks permit closed groups to trade images.

Downloading

This involves accessing child pornography via the Internet. The images do not need to be saved to the computer’s hard drive or to a removable disk to constitute downloading. In some cases a person may receive spam advertising child pornography, a pop-up link may appear in unrelated websites, or he may inadvertently go to a child pornography website (e.g., by mistyping a key word). In most cases, however, users must actively seek out pornographic websites or subscribe to a group dedicated to child pornography. In fact, it has been argued that genuine child pornography is relatively rare in open areas of the Internet, and, increasingly, those seeking to find images need good computer skills and inside knowledge of where to look.[17] Most child pornography is downloaded via newsgroups and chat rooms. Access to websites and online pedophile groups may be closed and require paying a fee or using a password.

Extent of the Problem

It is difficult to be precise about the extent of Internet child pornography, but all of the available evidence points to it being a major and growing problem. At any one time there are estimated to be more than one million pornographic images of children on the Internet, with 200 new images posted daily.[18] One offender arrested in the U.K. possessed 450,000 child pornography images.[19] It has been reported that a single child pornography site received a million hits in a month.[20] As noted above, one problem in estimating the number of sites is that many exist only for a brief period before they are shut down, and much of the trade in child pornography takes place at hidden levels of the Internet. It has been estimated that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 pedophiles involved in organized pornography rings around the world, and that one-third of these operate from the United States.[21]

Profile of Users

There is no one type of Internet child pornography user, and there is no easy way to recognize an offender. Having a preconceived idea of a child sex offender can be unhelpful and prove a distraction for investigating police.[22] Users of Internet child pornography:

• Are not necessarily involved in hands-on sexual abuse of children. It is not known exactly how many people may access child pornography on the Internet without ever physically abusing a child. Before the Internet, between one-fifth and one-third of people arrested for possession of child pornography were also involved in actual abuse.[23] However, the Internet makes it easy for people who may never have actively sought out traditional forms of child pornography to satisfy their curiosity online and this may encourage casual users. Looking at the relationship from the other direction, those convicted of sexually abusing children will not necessarily seek out or collect child pornography, with one study putting the number of offenders who do so at around 10 percent.[24]The term child molester covers a wide variety of offenders, from serial predators to situational offenders who may not have ingrained sexual interest in children.
• May come from all walks of life and show few warning signs. In fact, users of child pornography on the Internet are more than likely to be in a relationship, to be employed, to have an above average IQ, to be college educated, and to not have a criminal record.[25]Those arrested for online child pornography crimes have included judges, dentists, teachers, academics, rock stars, soldiers, and police officers.[26] Among the few distinguishing features of offenders are that they are likely to be white, male, and between the ages of 26 and 40, and may be heavy Internet users to the extent that it interferes with other aspects of their lives.[27]

A Psychological Typology

Sexual attraction to children is known as pedophilia.[28]However, an interest in Internet child pornography may be best thought of as falling along a continuum rather than in terms of a hard and fast distinction between pedophiles and non-pedophiles. People can behave very differently on the Internet than they do in other areas of their lives. Interacting anonymously with a computer in the safety of one’s own home encourages people to express hidden thoughts and desires.[29] Offenders vary in the strength of their interest in child pornography, as well as in the level of severity of the pornographic image to which they are attracted. From a psychological perspective, based on a typology of general pornography users,[30] the following categories of Internet child pornography users are suggested:

1. Recreational users: They access child pornography sites on impulse, out of curiosity, or for short-term entertainment. They are not seen to have long-term problems associated with child pornography use.
2. At-risk users: They are vulnerable individuals who have developed an interest in child pornography, but may not have done so had it not been for the Internet.
3. Sexual compulsives: They have a specific interest in children as sexual objects and seek out child pornography.

An Offending Typology

Variations among offenders translate into different patterns of Internet behavior. Offenders vary in the level of their involvement in Internet child pornography, the degree of networking in which they engage with other offenders, their expertise in employing security strategies to avoid detection, and the extent to which their Internet behavior involves direct sexual abuse of children. The following typology of child pornography offending has been suggested:[31]

1. Browsers: Offenders who stumble across child pornography but knowingly save the images. They are not involved in networking with other offenders and do not employ security strategies to avoid detection. Their browsing is an indirect abuse of children.
2. Private fantasizers: Offenders who create digital images (e.g., through morphing) for private use to satisfy personal sexual desires. These offenders do not network with other offenders, do not employ security strategies, and their private fantasies are an indirect abuse of victims.
3. Trawlers: Offenders who seek child pornography on the web through open browsers. They may engage in minimal networking, but they employ few security strategies and their trawling is an indirect abuse of victims.
4. Non-secure collectors: Offenders who seek child pornography in non-secure chat rooms (i.e., chat rooms that do not employ security barriers such as passwords) and other open levels of the Internet. They are involved in relatively high levels of networking, and, by definition, do not employ security strategies. Their collecting behavior is an indirect abuse of children. Because of the non-secured nature of their activities, there are limits to the number and nature of the images they can collect.
5. Secure collectors: Offenders who are members of a closed newsgroup or other secret pedophile ring. They engage in high levels of networking and employ sophisticated security measures to protect their activities from detection. Their collecting behavior is an indirect abuse of children. Because they occupy hidden levels of the Internet, they have access to a wide range of images. They may engage in obsessive levels of collecting, which not only involves amassing huge numbers of images, but also carefully cataloging and cross referencing them. As with other types of collections, they may expend considerable effort in obtaining rare and highly prized images. The collection may become an end in itself.
6. Groomers: Offenders who develop online relationships with children and send pornography to children as part of the grooming process. Grooming involves direct abuse of children. They may or may not be involved in wider networking with other offenders, but their contact with children exposes them to risk of detection. The child may tell someone about the relationship, or the offender may be unwittingly communicating with an undercover police officer.
7. Physical abusers: Offenders who sexually abuse children and for whom an interest in child pornography is just part of their pedophilic interests. They may record their own abuse behaviors for their personal use, in which case, from a legal standpoint, the possession of pornography is secondary to the evidence of their abusive behavior that it records. They may or may not network. By definition, a physical abuser directly abuses victims and his security depends upon the childs silence.
8. Producers: Offenders who record the sexual abuse of children for the purpose of disseminating it to others. The extent of their networking varies depending on whether they are also distributors. Again the producer’s direct abuse of the victim compromises his security.
9. Distributors: Offenders involved in disseminating abuse images. In some cases they have a purely financial interest in child pornography. More often, offenders at any of the above levels who share images may be classified as distributors. Thus, the extent of a distributor’s networking, his level of security, and whether he engages in direct abuse of children depends upon the level at which he is operating. 

Effects of Child Pornography

Effects on the Children Portrayed

The vast majority of children who appear in child pornography have not been abducted or physically forced to participate. [32] In most cases they know the producer—it may even be their father—and are manipulated into taking part by more subtle means. Nevertheless, to be the subject of child pornography can have devastating physical, social, and psychological effects on children.[33]

The children portrayed in child pornography are first victimized when their abuse is perpetrated and recorded. They are further victimized each time that record is accessed. In one study,[34] 100 victims of child pornography were interviewed about the effects of their exploitation—at the time it occurred and in later years. Referring to when the abuse was taking place, victims described the physical pain (e.g., around the genitals), accompanying somatic symptoms (such as headaches, loss of appetite, and sleeplessness), and feelings of psychological distress (emotional isolation, anxiety, and fear). However, most also felt a pressure to cooperate with the offender and not to disclose the offense, both out of loyalty to the offender and a sense of shame about their own behavior. Only five cases were ultimately reported to authorities. In later years, the victims reported that initial feelings of shame and anxiety did not fade but intensified to feelings of deep despair, worthlessness, and hopelessness. Their experience had provided them with a distorted model of sexuality, and many had particular difficulties in establishing and maintaining healthy emotional and sexual relationships.

Effects on Users

The effects of pornography on users have been extensively researched but results are contentious. There are at least five possible relationships between pornography use and the sexual abuse of children:

• Pornography use is an expression of existing sexual interests. An individual who sexually abuses children seeks out child pornography as part of his/her pattern of sexual gratification.[35] The offender’s sexual interests cause his/her pornography use rather than the other way around.
• Pornography is used to prime the individual to offend. An individual deliberately views child pornography immediately prior to offending. Pornography is used in the short term to sexually stimulate the offender in preparation for offending.[36]
• Pornography has a corrosive effect. An individual becomes increasingly interested in child pornography, is attracted to images of increasing severity, and becomes desensitized to the harm victims experience. Use of pornography in the long term may also increase the risk that the person will sexually abuse a child.[37]
• Pornography has a cathartic effect. Viewing child pornography is the sole outlet for an individual’s sexual attraction to children. Pornography use may substitute for, or even help the individual resist, engaging in hands-on offending.[38]
• Pornography is a by-product of pedophilia. Pornography is created in the process of carrying out sexual abuse or is used to groom potential victims and prepare them for abuse.[39] Pornography is incidental to the abuse suffered by the victim.

In all likelihood, the effects of child pornography vary among users, and all of the above relationships may apply depending upon the individual in question.

The Internet and Other Forms of Child Sexual Abuse 

In addition to child pornography, the Internet facilitates child sexual abuse in the following ways: 

• It allows networking among child abuse perpetrators: The Internet facilitates a subculture of pedophiles, who may share information and tactics and support each other’s belief systems.[40]
• It may be used to seek out and groom victims: Perpetrators may enter children’s or teens’ chat rooms under an assumed identity to access and establish relationships with potential victims.[41]
• It may be used in cyber-stalking: Children may be sexually harassed via the Internet.[42]
• It may be used to promote child sexual tourism: Information is made available to help individuals locate child-sex tourism operators or to make direct contact with child prostitutes.[43]
• It may be used in trafficking children: Mail-order children are available over the Internet.[44]

Sources of Digital Evidence

Computers and their associated services retain a considerable amount of evidence of their use. Determined, computer-savvy offenders may take precautions to cover their tracks, but many offenders will have neither the foresight nor the necessary expertise to do so, and will leave a trail of incriminating evidence.[45]

• The offender’s computer: Downloaded images saved to a computers hard drive are the most obvious evidence of pornography use. However, there are also more subtle records that technicians can locate when examining a suspect’s computer. For example, log files show who was logged into the computer and when; modem logs record when a computer was connected to the Internet; Web browser history entries show an offenders online activity; and e-mail and chat logs reveal online communication with cohorts or potential victims. Note, however, that seizure of a suspect’s computer requires specialized expertise, and, if handled incorrectly, may result in the loss of critical evidence.[46]
• Hand-held devices: An increasing number of devices contain components of a computer (referred to as embedded computer systems) and can be used in child pornography. These devices include digital cameras, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile phones. For example, digital cameras can be used to record abuse; the files can then be easily uploaded to the Internet. Similarly, in addition to voice conversations between perpetrators, mobile phones increasingly permit the recording, storing, and transmitting of digital images. These devices may have incriminating digital records stored on their memory cards.
• Servers: Different servers may provide information with which to track pornography use. ISP authentication servers record customer account details against IP addresses (authentication logs), which can then be used to identify users. FTP and web servers used to upload and download electronic files have logs that record users’ IP addresses, what files were accessed, and when. Similarly, e-mail servers retain logs of customer use. Local area network servers may be used to store collections of pornography for personal use. Individuals may use local servers connected to their work computers so that searching a suspects work server may reveal hidden collections of pornography.
• Online activity: Purpose-built or commercially available digger engine software allows law enforcement personnel to monitor online activity and identify the IP addresses of chat room contributors.[47] Although online operations can yield conclusive digital evidence of an offender’s involvement in Internet child pornography activities, officers should be careful not to become overzealous and engage in entrapment.[48]

Challenges in Controlling Internet Child Pornography

Internet child pornography presents some unique challenges for law enforcement agencies. These challenges include:

• The structure of the Internet: The structure of the Internet makes control of child pornography very difficult. The Internet is a decentralized system with no single controlling agency or storage facility. Because it is a network of networks, even if one pathway is blocked, many alternative pathways can be taken to reach the same destination. Similarly, if one website or newsgroup is closed down, there are many others that can instantaneously take its place. The decentralized nature of the Internet, and resultant difficulties in restricting the distribution of child pornography, is exemplified by P2P networks involving direct connections among computers without the need for a central server.[49] It has been argued that the Internet is the ultimate democratic entity and is essentially ungovernable.
• The uncertainties of jurisdiction: The Internet is an international communication tool that crosses jurisdictional boundaries. Not only is cooperation among law enforcement agencies necessary to track offenders across jurisdictions, it is required to coordinate resources and avoid duplication of effort.[50] Parallel operations run from different jurisdictions may unknowingly target the same organization or offender. Equally problematic is the issue of who is responsible for investigating child pornography on the Internet when there is no clue as to where the images originate. There is a potential for pornography crimes to go uninvestigated because they do not fall within a particular law enforcement jurisdiction.
• The lack of regulation: The Internet, by its nature, is difficult to regulate, but many jurisdictions are reluctant to introduce laws that might help control Internet use. There are debates about the appropriate weight to give to the community’s protection on the one hand, and to freedom of speech and commercial interests on the other.[51] There is also legal ambiguity about whether ISPs should be liable for the material they carry (as are television stations) or merely regarded as the conduits for that material (similar to the mail service).[52] The end result is that ISPs’ legal obligations with respect to Internet child pornography are often unclear, and, for the most part, the emphasis has been on self-regulation.[53]
• The differences in legislation: To the extent that there have been attempts to regulate the Internet, control efforts are hampered by cross-jurisdictional differences in laws and levels of permissiveness regarding child pornography. For example, in the United States a child is defined as someone under 18; in Australia the age is 16.[54]Moreover, countries vary in their commitment to enforce laws and act against offenders, either for cultural reasons or because of corruption.[55]
• The expertise of offenders: As the typology of Internet offending behavior suggests, offenders vary in the degree to which they employ elaborate security measures to avoid detection.[56] There is a core of veteran offenders, some of whom have been active in pedophile newsgroups for more than 20 years, who possess high levels of technological expertise. Pedophile bulletin boards often contain technical advice from old hands to newcomers. It has been argued that many Internet sting operations succeed only in catching inexperienced, low-level offenders.
• The sophistication and adaptation of Internet technology: The expertise of offenders is enhanced by the rapid advances in Internet technology. In addition to P2P networks, recent developments include remailers (servers that strip the sender’s identity from e-mail) and file encryption (a method of hiding or scrambling data).[57]A technological race has developed between Internet pornographers and law enforcement agencies.[58]
• The volume of Internet activity: The sheer amount of traffic in child pornography makes the task of tracking down every person who visits a child pornography site impossible.[59] Many offenders realize that realistically their chances of being caught are quite remote. Similarly, while perhaps worthwhile activities, catching peripheral offenders or disrupting individual networks may have little overall impact on the scale of the problem.

Inside the surveillance software tracking child porn offenders across the globe

In December 2016, law enforcement agents seized computers and hard drives from the home of Tay Christopher Cooper, a retired high school history teacher, in Carlsbad, California. On the devices, digital forensic experts found more than 11,600 photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse, according to court documents.

Among the videos was one showing a man raping a toddler girl, according to a criminal complaint.

“The audio associated with this video is that of a baby crying,” the complaint states.

Police were led to Cooper’s door by a forensic tool called Child Protection System, which scans file-sharing networks and chatrooms to find computers that are downloading photos and videos depicting the sexual abuse of prepubescent children. The software, developed by the Child Rescue Coalition, a Florida-based nonprofit, can help establish the probable cause needed to get a search warrant.

Cooper had used one of the file-sharing programs monitored by the Child Protection System to search for more than 200 terms linked to child sexual abuse, according to the complaint.

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How a massive database is helping law enforcement track child predators

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Cooper was arrested in April 2018 and pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. He expressed remorse, according to his attorney, and in December 2018 he was sentenced to a year behind bars.

Cooper is one of more than 12,000 people arrested in cases flagged by the Child Protection System software over the past 10 years, according to the Child Rescue Coalition.

The tool, which was shown to NBC News earlier this year, is designed to help police triage child pornography cases so they can focus on the most persistent offenders at a time when they are inundated with reports. It offers a way to quickly crack down on an illegal industry that has proved resilient against years of efforts to stop the flow of illegal images and videos. The problem has intensified since the coronavirus lockdown, law enforcement officials say, as people spend more time online viewing and distributing illegal material.

The Child Protection System, which lets officers search by country, state, city or county, displays a ranked list of the internet addresses downloading the most problematic files. The tool looks for images that have been reported to or seized by police and categorized as depicting children under age 12.

The Child Protection System “has had a bigger effect for us than any tool anyone has ever created. It’s been huge,” said Dennis Nicewander, assistant state attorney in Broward County, Florida, who has used the software to prosecute about 200 cases over the last decade. “They have made it so automated and simple that the guys are just sitting there waiting to be arrested.”

The Child Rescue Coalition gives its technology for free to law enforcement agencies, and it is used by about 8,500 investigators in all 50 states. It’s used in 95 other countries, including Canada, the U.K. and Brazil. Since 2010, the nonprofit has trained about 12,000 law enforcement investigators globally.

Still, it’s a drop in the ocean of online child sexual abuse material in circulation. In 2019 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 16.9 million reports related to suspected child sexual exploitation material online.

Now, the Child Rescue Coalition is seeking partnerships with consumer-focused online platforms, including Facebook, school districts and a babysitter booking site, to determine whether people who are downloading illegal images are also trying to make contact with or work with minors.

“Many of these platforms have a big problem of users engaging in suspicious activity that doesn’t rise to criminal behavior,” said Carly Yoost, CEO of the Child Rescue Coalition. “If they matched their user data with ours, it could alert their security teams to take a closer look at some of their users.”

But some civil liberties experts have raised concerns about the mass surveillance enabled by the technology — even before it’s connected with social platforms. They say tools like the Child Protection System should be subject to more independent oversight and testing.

“There’s a danger that the visceral awfulness of the child abuse blinds us to the civil liberties concerns,” said Sarah St.Vincent, a lawyer who specializes in digital rights. “Tools like this hand a great deal of power and discretion to the government. There need to be really strong checks and safeguards.”

‘You feel like you are going to get justice’

Rohnie Williams had waited 30 years for the news she received in November 2015: Her brother, Marshall Lugo, had been arrested on charges of possession of child pornography.

“It was exhilarating in a ‘Twilight Zone’ way,” said Williams, 41, a New York-based nurse manager. “Your heart starts palpitating. Your mouth gets dry. You feel like you are going to get justice.”

Williams got in touch with Megan Brooks, the investigator on the case in Will County, Illinois, and told her that Lugo, then a teenager, had sexually abused her from the ages of 5 to 7 — allegations that are documented in a police report reviewed by NBC News.

Williams had told her mother about her allegations when she was 11 on the way to a doctor’s visit after she got her first period.

“I was afraid the doctor was going to tell her I wasn’t a virgin. So I told her that,” she said.

Her mother didn’t report the allegation to the police and, according to Williams, told her daughter that if she told anybody else it would destroy the family. So Williams, like so many victims of child sexual abuse, kept quiet. (Williams’ mother confirmed her daughter’s account to NBC News.)

Police were led to Lugo’s mobile home by the Child Rescue Coalition’s technology, which detected the household IP address’ downloading dozens of videos and images depicting the abuse and rape of babies and children under age 12. When police searched the home, where Lugo lived with his wife and two young children, they found external hard drives storing child sexual abuse material, according to the police report.

Although too much time had passed to investigate Williams’ allegation as a separate crime, her testimony provided aggravating circumstances in Lugo’s sentencing to three years in prison following a guilty plea, according to Brooks, chief investigator for the Will County High Technology Crimes Unit, who led the case.

“Some days I feel like crap doing this job, but sometimes I have full-circle moments where it all feels worth it,” Brooks said. “This was one of those cases.”

While Williams has thrived professionally, she has struggled to forgive her brother. She spends her weekends working as a sexual assault nurse examiner, providing specialist care and forensic exams to rape victims.

“I chose to go into forensics because of what happened to me as a child, to make sure these victims had somebody taking care of them who was really invested in it,” she said.

Lugo didn’t respond to a request for comment.

‘The underbelly of the internet’

The Child Rescue Coalition is based in a low-rise, leafy business park here in Boca Raton. During a tour in February, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the staff to work from home, 10 people sat in the small office with walnut desks and striped beige carpet tiles. A framed collage of police patches hung on one side of the far wall. Next to it: a screen showing clusters of red dots, concentrated over Europe, where it was already late in the day.

Each of the red dots represented an IP address that had, according to the Child Rescue Coalition’s software, recently downloaded an image or a video depicting child sexual abuse. The dots tracked activity on peer-to-peer networks, groups of thousands of individual computers that share files with one another.

The networks, connected by software, provide an efficient and simple way to share files for free. They’re similar to the networks people use to illegally download movies. They typically come under none of the oversight of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter or file-hosting services like Dropbox and iCloud Drive. There are no central servers, no corporate headquarters, no security staff and no content moderators.

“It’s the underbelly of the internet. There’s no one to hold responsible and no security team to report it to,” said Yoost, the Child Rescue Coalition’s CEO.

The lack of corporate oversight creates the illusion of safety for people sharing illegal images.

“People who use these networks think they are anonymous,” said Nicewander, the assistant state attorney. “You don’t have to pay or give your email address to a website. You just put in your search terms, and off it goes.”

The Child Protection System was created more than a decade ago by Yoost’s father, Hank Asher. He was an entrepreneur and founder of several companies that developed tools to aggregate data about people and businesses, including a program called Accurint, for use by law enforcement.

Asher had what Yoost describes as a “rough childhood” in Indiana involving physical and verbal abuse by his father, which motivated him to “rid the world of bullies and people who picked on women and children,” Yoost said. In the early 1990s, Asher became friends with John Walsh, the co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and for the next two decades he donated his data products and millions of dollars to the nonprofit.

In 2009, Asher invited a handful of law enforcement investigators to Florida to work alongside a team of software developers at his company, TLO. Together they built the Child Protection System.

When Asher died in 2013, his daughters, Carly and Desiree, sold TLO to TransUnion on the condition that they could spin the Child Protection System into a new nonprofit, the Child Rescue Coalition.

Tracking illegal files

During the tour in February, Carly Yoost demonstrated the system, starting with a dashboard that showed a list of the “worst IPs” in the United States, ranked by the number of illegal files they had downloaded in the last year from nine peer-to-peer networks. No. 1 was an IP address associated with West Jordan, Utah, which had downloaded 6,896 “notable” images and videos.

“Notables” are images and videos that have been reviewed by law enforcement officials and determined to depict children under age 12. The material typically comes from the seized devices of suspects or reports from technology companies. That, police say, rules out some material that either isn’t illegal in every jurisdiction or isn’t a priority for prosecution.

“It’s not a teenage boy sending a picture of his girlfriend,” said Glen Pounder, a British law enforcement veteran who is the Child Rescue Coalition’s chief operating officer. “Every single one of the files we track is illegal worldwide.”

Once the images have been reviewed by authorities, they are turned into a digital fingerprint called a “hash,” and the hashes — not the images themselves — are shared with the Child Protection System. The tool has a growing database of more than a million hashed images and videos, which it uses to find computers that have downloaded them. The software is able to track IP addresses — which are shared by people connected to the same Wi-Fi network — as well as individual devices. The system can follow devices even if the owners move or use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to mask the IP addresses, according to the Child Rescue Coalition.

The system also flags some material that is legal to possess but is suspicious when downloaded alongside illegal images. That includes guides to grooming and molesting children, text-based stories about incest and pornographic cartoons that predators show to potential victims to try to normalize sexual assaults.

Clicking on an IP address flagged by the system lets police view a list of the address’ most recent downloads. The demonstration revealed files containing references to a child’s age and graphic descriptions of sexual acts.

On top of scanning peer-to-peer networks, the Child Protection System also monitors chatrooms that people use to exchange illegal material and tips to avoid getting caught.

The information exposed by the software isn’t enough to make an arrest. It’s used to help establish probable cause for a search warrant. Before getting a warrant, police typically subpoena the internet service provider to find out who holds the account and whether anyone at the address has a criminal history, has children or has access to children through work.

With a warrant, officers can seize and analyze devices to see whether they store illegal images. Police typically find far larger collections stored on computers and hard drives than had appeared in the searches tracked by the Child Protection System, Pounder and other forensic experts said.

“What we see in CPS is the absolute minimum the bad guy has done,” Pounder said, referring to the Child Protection System. “We can only see the file-sharing and chat networks.”

Police also look for evidence of whether their targets may be hurting children. Studies have shown a strong correlation between those downloading such material and those who are abusive. Canadian forensic psychologist Michael Seto, one of the world’s leading researchers of pedophilia, found that 50 percent to 60 percent of those who consume child sexual abuse material admit to abusing children.

Yoost said: “Ultimately the goal is identifying who the hands-on abusers are by what they are viewing on the internet. The fact that they are interested in videos of abuse and rape of children under 12 is a huge indicator they are likely to conduct hands-on abuse of children.”

Over time, the children depicted in the material circulating online have become younger and younger, law enforcement officials say.

“When I first started, the people depicted in images were teenagers,” said Nicewander, the assistant state attorney in Broward County, who has been a prosecutor for more than three decades. “Now the teenage pictures aren’t even on the radar anymore,” he added. “So many of the kids are under 5 or 6 years old.”

Debate over the technology

While law enforcement agencies are enthusiastic about the capabilities of tools like the Child Protection System, some civil liberties experts have questioned their accuracy and raised concerns about a lack of oversight.

In a 2019 open letter to the Justice Department, Human Rights Watch called for more independent testing of the technology and highlighted how some prosecutors had dropped cases rather than reveal details of their use of the Child Protection System.

“My view is that mass surveillance is always a problem,” said St.Vincent, the lawyer who wrote the letter. “Because these crimes are so odious, we accept aspects of searches, data collection and potential privacy intrusions we wouldn’t accept otherwise.”

Forensic expert Josh Moulin, who spent 11 years in law enforcement specializing in cybercrime, agreed.

“If you are taking someone’s liberties away in a criminal investigation, there has to be some sort of confidence that these tools are being used properly and their capabilities fall within the Constitution,” he said.

The Child Rescue Coalition said it has offered its technology, including the source code, for testing by third parties at the request of federal and state courts.

Sometimes, images flagged by the software turn out not to be on a device once police obtain a search warrant. Critics of the software say that indicates that it could be searching parts of the computer that aren’t public, which would be a potential Fourth Amendment violation.

But the Child Rescue Coalition and its defenders say the files could have been deleted or moved to an encrypted drive after they were downloaded. Every Fourth Amendment challenge of the use of the technology has failed in federal court.

Forensic experts say images in the software’s dataset could also have been miscategorized or downloaded in error as part of a larger cache of legal adult pornography.

Investigators need to be “extremely careful” to review a person’s full collection of images and pattern of behavior to see whether they were looking for illegal material or downloaded it in error, Moulin said.

Bill Wiltse, a former computer forensic examiner who is president of the Child Rescue Coalition, said: “Our system is not open-and-shut evidence of a case. It’s for probable cause.”

A growing footprint

To expand its impact, the Child Rescue Coalition has started offering its lists of suspicious IP addresses to the commercial sector, charging a subscription fee depending on the size of the company. The organization believes that if social media companies and other online platforms cross-reference the list with their own user data, they can improve their ability to detect child predators.

One of the first test cases has been a babysitting app, the developers of which did not wish to be named for fear of being associated with this type of crime. In the early days of the data matching experiment, the company found that someone had tried to sign up as a babysitter using an IP address that the Child Protection System flagged for entering a chat room with the username “rape babies,” according to the Child Rescue Coalition.

Wiltse stressed that the IP connection isn’t enough for companies to reject users altogether, particularly if it means denying them employment, as many people could be using the same Wi-Fi network.

“It’s just an indicator — something to augment your existing trust and safety procedures and practices,” he said.

Jeremy Gottschalk, founder of Marketplace Risk, a consultancy that focuses on risk management for marketplaces for goods and services, said, “If something looks suspicious, you can run that person through additional screening.”

Additional screening on a babysitting app could include checking an account for “abnormal” characteristics, such as logging in much more frequently than a typical user, or checking whether it is attached to a profile indicating that the person is willing to travel long distances for a job or is offering a rate that is well below the average.

“If you find a warning sign, you can reach out to law enforcement to give them an opportunity to investigate,” he said.

The Child Rescue Coalition believes that could help identify potential predators.

“We need people to be less scared of what would happen if they found this type of material on their platforms,” Yoost said, “and more proactive in wanting to protect children.”

Bullying on the internet

Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it What teens want to know about cyberbullying.

Looking for information and advice on ways to deal with online bullying? We answer some of the most common questions, bringing together tips from UNICEF experts and information from apps and games companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok and X. 

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted. Examples include:

• spreading lies about or posting embarrassing photos or videos of someone on social media
• sending hurtful, abusive or threatening messages, images or videos via messaging platforms
• impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf or through fake accounts
• engaging in sexual harassment or bullying using generative AI tools.

Face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying can often happen alongside each other. But cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint – a record that can prove useful and provide evidence to help stop the abuse.

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If you are worried about your safety or something that has happened to you online, you can seek help by calling your national helpline. If your country does not have a helpline, please urgently speak to an adult you trust or seek professional support from trained and experienced carers.

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The top questions on cyberbullying

1. Am I being bullied online? How do you tell the difference between a joke and bullying?
2. What are the effects of cyberbullying?
3. How can cyberbullying affect my mental health?
4. Who should I talk to if someone is bullying me online? Why is reporting important?
5. I’m experiencing cyberbullying, but I’m afraid to talk to my parents about it. How can I approach them?
6. How can I help my friends report a case of cyberbullying especially if they don’t want to do it?
7. How do we stop cyberbullying without giving up access to the internet?
8. How do I prevent my personal information from being used to manipulate or humiliate me on social media?
9. Is there a punishment for cyberbullying?
10. Technology companies don’t seem to care about online bullying and harassment. Are they being held responsible?
11. Are there any online anti-bullying tools for children or young people?

1. Am I being bullied online? How do you tell the difference between a joke and bullying?

UNICEF: 

All friends joke around with each other, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if someone is just having fun or trying to hurt you, especially online. Sometimes they’ll laugh it off with a “just kidding,” or “don’t take it so seriously.” 

But if you feel hurt or think others are laughing at you instead of with you, then the joke has gone too far. If it continues even after you’ve asked the person to stop and you are still feeling upset about it, then this could be bullying.

And when the bullying takes place online, it can result in unwanted attention from a wide range of people including strangers. Wherever it may happen, if you are not happy about it, you should not have to stand for it.

Call it what you will – if you feel bad and it doesn’t stop, then it’s worth getting help. Stopping cyberbullying is not just about calling out bullies, it’s also about recognizing that everyone deserves respect – online and in real life.

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2. What are the effects of cyberbullying?

UNICEF:

When bullying happens online it can feel as if you’re being attacked everywhere, even inside your own home. It can seem like there’s no escape. The effects can last a long time and affect a person in many ways:

• Mentally – feeling upset, embarrassed, stupid, even afraid or angry 
• Emotionally – feeling ashamed or losing interest in the things you love
• Physically – tired (loss of sleep), or experiencing symptoms like stomach aches and headaches 

The feeling of being laughed at or harassed by others, can prevent people from speaking up or trying to deal with the problem. In extreme cases, cyberbullying can even lead to people taking their own lives. 

Cyberbullying can affect us in many ways. But these can be overcome and people can regain their confidence and health.

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3. How can cyberbullying affect my mental health?

UNICEF:

When you experience cyberbullying you might start to feel ashamed, nervous, anxious and insecure about what people say or think about you. This can lead to withdrawing from friends and family, negative thoughts and self-talk, feeling guilty about things you did or did not do, or feeling that you are being judged negatively. Feeling lonely, overwhelmed, frequent headaches, nausea or stomachaches are also common.

You can lose your motivation to do the things that you usually enjoy doing and feel isolated from the people you love and trust. This can perpetuate negative feelings and thoughts which can adversely affect your mental health and well-being.

Skipping school is another common effect of cyberbullying and can affect the mental health of children and young people who turn to substances like alcohol and drugs or violent behaviour to deal with their psychological and physical pain. Talking to a friend, family member or school counsellor you trust can be a first step to getting help.

The effects of cyberbullying on mental health can vary depending on the medium through which it happens. For example, bullying via text messaging or through pictures or videos on social media platforms has proven to be very harmful for adolescents.   

4. Who should I talk to if someone is bullying me online? Why is reporting important?

UNICEF: 

If you think you’re being bullied, the first step is to seek help from someone you trust such as your parents, a close family member or another trusted adult.

In your school you can reach out to a counsellor, the sports coach or your favourite teacher – either online or in person.

And if you are not comfortable talking to someone you know, search for a helpline in your country to talk to a professional counsellor.

If the bullying is happening on a social platform, consider blocking the bully and formally reporting their behaviour on the platform itself. Social media companies are obligated to keep their users safe.

For bullying to stop, it needs to be identified and reporting it is key.

It can be helpful to collect evidence – text messages and screen shots of social media posts – to show what’s been going on.

For bullying to stop, it needs to be identified and reporting it is key. It can also help to show the bully that their behaviour is unacceptable.

If you are in immediate danger, then you should contact the police or emergency services in your country.

5. I’m experiencing cyberbullying, but I’m afraid to talk to my parents about it. How can I approach them?

UNICEF: 

If you are experiencing cyberbullying, speaking to a trusted adult – someone you feel safe talking to – is one of the most important first steps you can take.

Talking to parents isn’t easy for everyone. But there are things you can do to help the conversation. Choose a time to talk when you know you have their full attention. Explain how serious the problem is for you. Remember, they might not be as familiar with technology as you are, so you might need to help them to understand what’s happening.

They might not have instant answers for you, but they are likely to want to help and together you can find a solution. Two heads are always better than one! If you are still unsure about what to do, consider reaching out to other trusted people. There are often more people who care about you and are willing to help than you might think!

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6. How can I help my friends report a case of cyberbullying especially if they don’t want to do it?

UNICEF: 

Anyone can become a victim of cyberbullying. If you see this happening to someone you know, try to offer support.

It is important to listen to your friend. Why don’t they want to report being cyberbullied? How are they feeling? Let them know that they don’t have to formally report anything, but it’s crucial to talk to someone who might be able to help.

Anyone can become a victim of cyberbullying.

Remember, your friend may be feeling fragile. Be kind to them. Help them think through what they might say and to whom. Offer to go with them if they decide to report. Most importantly, remind them that you’re there for them and you want to help.

If your friend still does not want to report the incident, then support them in finding a trusted adult who can help them deal with the situation. Remember that in certain situations the consequences of cyberbullying can be life threatening.

Doing nothing can leave the person feeling that everyone is against them or that nobody cares. Your words can make a difference.

7. How do we stop cyberbullying without giving up access to the Internet?

UNICEF: 

Being online has so many benefits. However, like many things in life, it comes with risks that you need to protect against.

If you experience cyberbullying, you may want to delete certain apps or stay offline for a while to give yourself time to recover. But getting off the Internet is not a long-term solution. You did nothing wrong, so why should you be disadvantaged? It may even send the bullies the wrong signal — encouraging their unacceptable behaviour. 

We need to be thoughtful about what we share or say that may hurt others.

We all want cyberbullying to stop, which is one of the reasons reporting cyberbullying is so important. But creating the Internet we want goes beyond calling out bullying. We need to be thoughtful about what we share or say that may hurt others. We need to be kind to one another online and in real life. It’s up to all of us!

8. How do I prevent my personal information from being used to manipulate or humiliate me on social media?

UNICEF: 

Think twice before posting or sharing anything on digital platforms – it may be online forever and could be used to harm you later. Don’t give out personal details such as your address, telephone number or the name of your school.

Learn about the privacy settings of your favourite social media apps. Here are some actions you can take on many of them: 

• You can decide who can see your profile, send you direct messages or comment on your posts by adjusting your account privacy settings. 
• You can report hurtful comments, messages, photos and videos and request they be removed.
• Besides ‘unfriending’, you can completely block people to stop them from seeing your profile or contacting you.
• You can also choose to have comments by certain people to appear only to them without completely blocking them.
• You can delete posts on your profile or hide them from specific people. 

On most of your favourite social media, people aren’t notified when you block, restrict or report them.

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9. Is there a punishment for cyberbullying?

UNICEF: 

Most schools take bullying seriously and will take action against it. If you are being cyberbullied by other students, report it to your school.

People who are victims of any form of violence, including bullying and cyberbullying, have a right to justice.

Laws against bullying, particularly on cyberbullying, are relatively new and still do not exist everywhere. This is why many countries rely on other relevant laws, such as ones against harassment, to punish serious forms of cyberbullying.

In countries that have specific laws on cyberbullying, online behaviour that deliberately causes serious emotional distress is seen as criminal activity. In some of these countries, victims of cyberbullying can seek protection, prohibit communication from a specified person and restrict the use of electronic devices used by that person for cyberbullying, temporarily or permanently.

However, it is important to remember that that criminalization is not always the most suitable response to cyberbullying. In some cases, where it is safe to do so, focusing on repairing the harm and mending the relationship may be better.

10. Technology companies don’t seem to care about online bullying and harassment. Are they being held responsible?

UNICEF: 

Technology companies are increasingly paying attention to the issue of online bullying.

Many of them are introducing ways to address it and better protect their users with new tools, guidance and ways to report online abuse.

But it is true that more is needed. Many children and young people experience cyberbullying every day. Some face extreme forms of online abuse. Some have taken their own lives as a result.

Technology companies have a responsibility to protect their users especially children and young people.

It is up to all of us to hold them accountable when they’re not living up to these responsibilities.

11. Are there any online anti-bullying tools for children or young people?

UNICEF: 

Each social platform offers different tools (see available ones below) that allow you to restrict who can comment on or view your posts or who can connect automatically as a friend, and to report cases of bullying. Many of them involve simple steps to block, mute or report cyberbullying. We encourage you to explore them and give your feedback where you think they could be improved.

Social media companies also provide educational tools and guidance for children, parents and teachers to learn about risks and ways to stay safe online.

Also, the first line of defense against cyberbullying could be you. Think about where cyberbullying happens in your community and ways you can help – by raising your voice, calling out inappropriate and harmful behaviour, reaching out to trusted adults or by creating awareness of the issue. Even a simple act of kindness can go a long way.

The first line of defense against cyberbullying could be you.

If you are worried about your safety or something that has happened to you online, urgently speak to an adult you trust. Many countries have a special helpline you can call for free and talk to someone anonymously. Visit United for Global Mental Health to find help in your country.

Get Help Now

If you or someone you know is being bullied, there are things you can do to keep yourself and others safe from bullying.

• What Kids Can Do
• What Teens Can Do
• What Adults Can Do

If you or someone you know is involved in cyberbullying, it is important to document and report the behavior.

If you have done everything you can to resolve the situation and nothing has worked, or someone is in immediate danger, there are ways to get help.

The problem	What you can do
There has been a crime or someone is at immediate risk of harm.	Call 911
Someone is feeling hopeless, helpless, thinking of suicide.	To talk to someone now*:Call or text 988Chat with Suicide and Crisis LifelineFor Spanish Speakers*:Call 988 and then press 2Text AYUDA to 988For Deaf/Hard of Hearing People*:Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988Use 988 VideophoneFor Veterans, Service Members, and their Loved Ones*:Call 988 and then press 1Text 838255Chat with Veterans Crisis Line*Free and confidential support resources are available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Someone is acting differently than normal, such as always seeming sad or anxious, struggling to complete tasks, or not being able care for themselves.	Find a local counselor or other mental health services
A child is being bullied in school.	Contact the:TeacherSchool counselorSchool principalSchool superintendentState Department of EducationSee more on working with the school.
A child is being cyberbullied.	Contact:YouTubeTikTokSnapchatInstagramFacebookDiscordX (formerly Twitter)TwitchXbox Party ChatPlayStation Party ChatTumblrSee more on how to report cyberbullying.
The school is not adequately addressing harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion.	Contact:School superintendentState Department of EducationU.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil RightsU.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division

Fake News

Learn about misinformation

Misinformation is false information that is spread by people who think it’s true. This is different from ‘fake news’ and disinformation.

Fake news refers to websites that share mis or disinformation. This might be via satire sites like The Onion, but it also refers to those pretending to be trustworthy news sources.

Sometimes, people use the term ‘fake news’ to discredit true information. As such, it’s better to use more general terms such as ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’.

Disinformation is false information that someone or a group spreads online while knowing it’s false. Generally, they do this for a specific intention, usually for the purpose of influencing others to believe their point of view.

7 types of mis/disinformation

UNICEF identifies 7 main types of mis and disinformation, all of which can impact children.

Satire or parody

Satirical content and parodies can spread misinformation. This is misleading information that is not intended to harm. Creators of the content know the information is false, but share it for humour. However, if people misunderstand the intent, they might spread it as true.

False connections

Clickbait for views can mislead users. This is content where the headline, visuals or captions don’t match the actual content. This is often clickbait to get more views on a video, visits to a page or engagement on social media.

Misleading content

Intentionally misleading content can create anger. People might share information in misleading way to frame an event, issue or person in a particular way. An example is when an old photo is used on a recent social media post. It might spread outrage or fear until the photo receives the right context.

Fake context

Giving fake context can cause unnecessary outrage. Fake context is when information is shared with incorrect background information.

A lighthearted example is a popular photo of young director Steven Spielberg posing and smiling with a large dead animal. Many people felt outrage for his hunting of an endangered animal. However, the correct context was that he was on set of Jurassic Park and posing with a prop triceratops.

Usually, someone spreading disinformation will ‘alter’ the context of information. The intention is to convince people of their belief or viewpoint.

Imposter content

Impersonation can cause harm in many ways. This is when a person, group or organisation pretends they are another person or source. Imposter content can trick people into:

• Sending money
• Sharing personal information
• Further spreading misinformation

Manipulated content

True information that’s altered is hard to notice
Manipulated content is real information, images or videos that are altered or changed in some way to deceive others. Some deepfakes are an example of such content.

Fabricated content

Completely false information can lead to harm. Fabricated content is disinformation created without any connection to truth. Its overall intention is to deceive and harm. Fabricated content can quickly become misinformation.

How does misinformation spread online?

From social media to news, misinformation can spread all over the world in an instant.

For children, misinformation and disinformation often looks very convincing. This is especially true with the popularity of generative AI and the ability to create deepfakes.

Learn more about using artificial intelligence tools safely.

Artificial intelligence can help scammers create convincing ads and content that tricks people. Unfortunately, unless reported (and sometimes even when reported), these ads can reach millions of people quickly.

While misinformation is nothing new, the internet means it can spread a lot quicker and reach many more people.

How social media spreads false information

From sock puppet accounts to scam ads, social media can help spread misinformation to thousands if not millions of people at once. Unfortunately, social media algorithms make it so any interaction helps the content reach more people.

Angry reactions on Facebook or comments calling a post out as false only helps the poster reach more people. This is because the algorithm only understands whether something is popular or not. It can’t tell if information is false; that’s why users must report false information rather than engage with it.

How echo chambers spread misinformation

‘Echo chambers’ is a term used to describe the experience of only seeing one type of content. Essentially, the more someone engages with the content, the more likely they are to see similar content.

Manage algorithms and echo chambers

Read article

So, if a child interacts with an influencer spreading misogyny, they will see more similar content. If they interact with that content, then they see more, and so on. This continues until all they see is content around misogyny.

When an algorithm creates an echo chamber, it means the user will only see content that supports the user’s view. As such, it’s really difficult to hear others’ perspectives and widen their worldview. This means, when challenged, they become more defensive and are likely to spread hate.

How design impacts the way misinformation spreads

In a Risky-by-Design case study from the 5Rights Foundation, the following design features also contributed to misinformation spreading online.

Popularity metrics

Recommendations favour popular creators. Content creators who have a large following and spread misinformation have a wider reach. This is largely due to algorithms designed for the platform.

Fake accounts

Many platforms are overrun with bots. Bots and fake profiles (or sock puppet accounts) may spread misinformation as their sole purpose. These can also manipulate information or make the source of disinformation harder to trace. It’s also often quite difficult as a user to successfully report fake or hacked accounts.

Recommendation systems

Algorithms can create echo chambers or “a narrowing cycle of similar posts to read, videos to watch or groups to join.” Additionally, some content creators that spread misinformation also have interests in less harmful content. So, the algorithm might recommend this harmless content to users like children. Children then watch these new content creators, eventually seeing the misinformation.

For example, self-described misogynist Andrew Tate also shared content relating to finance and flashy cars. This content might appeal to a group of people who don’t agree with misogyny. For instance, our research shows that boys are more likely than girls to see content from Andrew Tate on social media. However, both girls and boys are similarly likely to see content about Andrew Tate on social media.

Ineffective content labelling

Not all content labels are clear. Subtle content label design — such as for identifying something as an ad or joke — are often easy to miss. More obvious labels could help children accurately navigate potential misinformation online.

Autoplay

Autoplay makes accidental viewing easy. When videos or audio that a child chooses finishes, many apps automatically start playing a new one by design. As such they might accidentally engage with misinformation that then feeds into the algorithm. Most platforms allow you to turn off this feature.

Disappearing content

Apps that hide content can support misinformation. Content that gets shared and then quickly removed is harder to fact-check. It spreads misinformation because it doesn’t give viewers the chance to check if it’s true. Children might engage with this type of content on apps like Snapchat where disappearing messages are the norm.

Trending lists

Algorithms cannot assess trending content. Algorithms can identify which hashtags or topics are most popular, sharing them with more users. However, these algorithms can’t tell if it relates to misinformation. So, it’s up to the user to make this decision, which many children might struggle with.

Seamless sharing

Misinformation can easily reach many. When sharing content directly, many apps and platforms suggest a ready-made list of people. This makes it easy to share misinformation with a large group of people at once.

What impact can fake news have on young people?

Nearly all children are now online, but many of them do not yet have the skills to assess information online.

Half of the children surveyed by the National Literacy Trust admitted to worrying about fake news. Additionally, teachers in the same survey noted an increase in issues of anxiety, self-esteem and a general skewing of world views.

Misinformation can impact children in a number of ways. These could include:

• Scams: falling for scams could lead to data breaches, financial loss, impacts on credit score and more.
• Harmful belief systems: if children watch content that spreads hate, this can become a part of their worldview. This could lead to mistreatment of people different from them or even lead to radicalisation and extremism.
• Dangerous challenges or hacks: some videos online might promote dangerous challenges or ‘life hacks’ that can cause serious harm. These hacks are common in videos from content farms.
• Confusion and distrust: If a child becomes a victim of dis or misinformation, they might struggle with new information. This can lead to distrust, confusion and maybe anxiety, depending on the extent of the misinformation.

Research into misinformation and fake news

Below are some figures into how misinformation can affect children and young people.

79%

According to Ofcom, 79% of 12-15-year-olds feel that news they hear from family is ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ true.

28%

28% of children aged 12-15 use TikTok as a news source (Ofcom).

60%

6 in 10 parents worry about their child ‘being scammed/defrauded/lied to/impersonated’ by someone they didn’t know.

40%

Around 4 in 10 children aged 9-16 said they experienced the feeling of ‘being unsure about whether what I see is true’. This was the second most common experience after ‘spending too much time online’.

68%

NewsWise from The National Literacy Trust helped children develop their media literacy skills. Over that time, the children able to accurately assess news as false or true increased from 49.2% to 68%. This demonstrates the importance of teaching media literacy.

Disinformation and the public

We are all responsible for combating disinformation.

According to the Pew Research Center, one in five Americans receive their daily news intake from social media platforms. In that same survey, 64 percent of adults said “fake news” caused confusion on basic facts, and 23 percent said they had shared “fake news,” either knowingly or unknowingly.

“Fake news” and disinformation campaigns are dangerous in democratic systems as it has the ability to affect public opinion and electoral discourse. As a collective public, we all have the responsibility to stop the spread of disinformation.

Protect yourself from disinformation by:

• Following a diverse group of people and perspectives. Relying upon a small number of like-minded news sources limits the range of material available to you and increases the odds that you may fall victim to hoaxes or false rumors. This method is not entirely foolproof, but it increases your odds of hearing diverse and well-balanced viewpoints.
• Being skeptical about news sources. In the rush to encourage clicks, many online outlets resort to misleading or sensationalized headlines. These outlets emphasize the provocative or the attention-grabbing, even if that news hook is deceptive. You have to keep your guard up and understand that not everything you read is accurate and many digital sites specialize in false news. Learning how to judge news sites and protect yourself from inaccurate information is a high priority in this digital age.
• Fact-checking before you share. When consuming your news online, make sure you know how trustworthy the source is—or whether it’s not trustworthy at all. Double-check stories from other sources with low biases and high fact ratings to find out who, and what, you can actually trust.
• Standing up against false information. If you see that someone has posted a story that is false, say something. When people chime in on a post that is false, it signals that sharing misinformation is frowned upon. By allowing misinformation to spread, you are condoning the false information.

Check with FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute. It’s a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. The organization monitors factual accuracy and focuses on dispelling claims that are false or misleading.

#19 | Real Events Caused by Fake News in the US

In the US, “fake news” frequently becomes widely shared on the internet. Recently, a shooting incident occurred as a result of this spreading of fake news. The location was Washington D.C.

 This is a translation of an article originally written in December for publication in the January 2017 edition of the Marubeni Group Magazine, M-SPIRIT.

Washington D.C. Office General Manager, Marubeni America Corporation   Takashi Imamura

A Tweeted Lie Triggers an Incident

On Sunday, December 4, 2016, a shooting incident occurred at a pizza shop in northwestern Washington D.C. during the middle of the day. This was in a busy but peaceful shopping district, and the shop was filled with families. A man brought a rifle into the shop and began shooting. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the suspect was arrested, but the motive for this crime and the circumstances that triggered it were shocking.

The pizza shop, called Comet Ping Pong, had become embroiled in a strange situation due to an event that had occurred about one month earlier. There were false tweets widely spread on the net claiming that this pizza shop was the base for a pedophile sex ring involving Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a former Secretary of State, and members of her campaign. The operators of the pizza shop began receiving threats from right wing activists who believed that the reports were true.

According to The Washington Post, the trigger was the announcement on October 28 about the resumption of the investigation by the Federal Bureau of investigation (“FBI”) into the issue of the use of private e-mail by Hillary Clinton during her tenure as Secretary of State. Two days later, there was a large volume of tweets about newly-discovered e-mail related to a pedophile sex ring. These posts were spread on anonymous bulletin board sites and via social media; and there were many abusive videos directed at Ms. Clinton posted on extreme-right-wing sites. Two days before the election, the FBI announced that they had reached a conclusion that they would not seek prosecution of Ms. Clinton.

The anonymous bulletin board sites then focused their attention on the pizza shop called Comet Ping Pong, which was frequently mentioned in the e-mail of John Podesta, head of the Clinton campaign, whose e-mails were being successively leaked on the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks at about this same time. This escalated into posts that this shop was the site of child sex trafficking. The day before the voting in the presidential election, the hashtag “#pizzagate” appeared. Even after Ms. Clinton’s defeat the following day, the tweets did not subside, and instead continued to expand. It was reported that the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) had determined that there were cyber-attacks on the e-mail of Democratic Party officials, like Mr. Podesta, indicating that there was intervention from Russia aimed at ensuring that Mr. Trump would win the election; and President Obama demanded a thorough investigation of the government intelligence agencies before his own retirement.

As the number of people who believed in the “pizzagate” conspiracy grew, and the threats directed at the pizza shop increased, the shops in the neighborhood also became involved. The operators of the pizza shop and surrounding businesses said they became frightened by more and more confrontations with people who believed the fake news. Although social media subsequently banned posts related to pizzagate, the threats did not stop, culminating in the appearance of a 28-year-old man from North Carolina, who showed up at the shop with a rifle to do his own “investigation.” According to a New York Times interview with the suspect after his capture, he was a soft-spoken, polite man who intended to rescue the children trapped in the shop.

Society that Facilitates the Spread of Fake News

Although no one was hurt, a real shooting being caused by fake news is serious. After this, one of the members of the transition team for the next president Mr. Trump posted a tweet saying “Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story.”, and was subsequently dismissed from the team. The people who believe the fake news, like the suspect in this incident, are often people who appear to be perfectly ordinary. Furthermore, people who do not hesitate to try to gain a political advantage, even when they are aware that the news is fake, are present in positions that can affect the formation of the next administration.

And, new fake news continues to appear. This is partly because the business model of US media companies has shifted from paper to digital media, making it possible to widely distribute fake news at a low cost. News sites that currently post fake news have names that sound like actual newspapers, like the Denver Guardian, and even include local weather forecasts in the content. Since the fake news attracts many viewers, the site operators can easily obtain advertisers. It is said that writers who find it difficult to make a living in the conventional media are willing to accept high fees to “report” fake news stories, regardless of their own ideology.

To eliminate fake news it is essential for the technology companies that operate social media to promote the development of technology to delete fake news, and for the conventional media to report truthful, accurate news. Some of the leading technology companies have started working on joint development, and the results are being awaited. The problem is the media. According to a 2016 opinion poll, in the US only 32% of the population trusts the media. Among Republican supporters, the rate is only 14%. They say that the media has a liberal bias and is suspicious; and that there is no trustworthy conservative media. In addition, the fact that conventional media charge fees to access their sites has created the niche for the free sites that post the fake news.

Under these circumstances, if the Trump administration does not take clear action to eradicate fake news, the situation will not improve; and, there is the risk that incidents like the Comet Ping Pong shooting will continue to occur. At the moment, however, the next administration has not issued any message that suggests there will be any improvement in the future. The Marubeni Group has developed numerous projects in the US, and has many employees there. While being aware of the current situation, we can only watch cautiously for the time being.

Fact Checking

Social Media and Online Speech: How Should Countries Regulate Tech Giants?

The role of social media and online speech in civil society has come under heightened scrutiny. The deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 is just one example of violence which national security experts say was fomented in large part on social media platforms. Elsewhere in the world, social media has contributed to religious and ethnic violence, including against Muslims in India and Rohingya in Myanmar. Harmful misinformation, including about the COVID-19 pandemic, has also spread with ease and speed. 

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become the de facto public squares in many countries, and governments are adopting varying approaches to regulating them.

How do the major platforms regulate content?

The most popular platforms, most of which are run by U.S. companies, have similar content moderation policies. They bar posts that glorify or encourage violence; posts that are sexually explicit; and posts that contain hate speech, which they define as attacking a person for their race, gender, or sexual orientation, among other characteristics. The major platforms have also taken steps to limit disinformation, including by fact-checking posts, labeling the accounts of state-run media, and banning political ads.  

Facebook and YouTube Are Most Popular Social Platforms

Active user accounts for selected social platforms, January 2021 or most recent available

These platforms generally comply with the laws of the countries where they operate, which can restrict speech even further. In addition to using moderation software powered by artificial intelligence, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (which is owned by Google) employ thousands of people to screen posts for violations. 

Social Media Platforms Block Millions of Pieces of Harmful Content

Content removed or subject to other action in the first half of 2020

What are some of the controversies? 

Critics say these platforms do not enforce their rules consistently. For example, both Twitter and Facebook have allowed accounts they say serve the public interest—most notably those of politicians such as former U.S. President Donald J. Trump—to post abusive or misleading content that might have been removed if it were posted by an ordinary user. 

In Trump’s case, the companies instead appended fact checks to some of his posts, which some experts who track social media and misinformation criticized as insufficient. The two platforms eventually banned Trump, following the U.S. Capitol riots, but both have faced criticism for not taking similar actions abroad. YouTube has also come under fire for allegedly treating its star users, who bring in more revenue, more leniently. It was also criticized for not removing videos with false claims of U.S. election fraud and other misinformation quickly.

Critics say the companies are not incentivized to regulate hateful or violent speech because their ad-driven business models rely on keeping users engaged. At the same time, politicians in some countries, including the United States, argue that social media companies have gone too far with moderation, at the expense of free speech. 

For their part, social media companies have argued that their policies are difficult to enforce. It can be tricky at times to distinguish hate speech from satire or commentary, for example. Some companies say the onus should not be on them to write the rules for the internet and have called for government regulation.

How are governments around the world approaching the issue?

Countries Regulate Social Media Differently

Regulations in selected countries, grouped by level of internet freedom according to Freedom House

In the United States, social media platforms have largely been left to make and enforce their own policies, though Washington is weighing new laws and regulations. Other countries have implemented or proposed legislation to force social media companies to do more to police online discourse. Authoritarian governments generally have more restrictive censorship regimes, but even some Western democracies, such as Australia and Germany, have taken tougher approaches to online speech.

Response to Meta’s decision to end fact-checking

Experts: Move harms users on Instagram, Facebook and Threads

CONTACT
Christina Veiga
Senior Director, Media Relations
cveiga@newslit.org
954-655-6757

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 7, 2025 — In response to the announcement that Meta will end fact-checking on Instagram, Facebook and Threads, the News Literacy Project released the following statement:

Meta is removing measures that mitigate the spread of false, harmful information on their platforms, and social media users will suffer because of it. These users already are vulnerable to manipulation by malicious actors promoting unreliable sources and information engineered to exploit our cognitive biases, including the desire to confirm our preexisting ideas and beliefs.

“This move demonstrates that Meta has largely given up on moderation efforts that remind people of the facts and encourage people to seek out credible, standards-based sources of information. Productive, respectful civic discourse requires moderation and agreed-upon principles – like civility, an acknowledgement of strong evidence and an acceptance of facts. This kind of responsible moderation is not ‘censorship,’ it provides the foundation for honest, fact-based discourse,” said Peter Adams, Senior Vice President of Research and Design at the News Literacy Project.

“Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end Meta’s fact-checking program not only removes a valuable resource for users, but it also provides an air of legitimacy to a popular disinformation narrative: That fact-checking is politically biased. Fact-checkers provide a valuable service by adding important context to the viral claims that mislead and misinform millions of users on Meta,” said Dan Evon, lead writer for RumorGuard^®, the News Literacy Project’s digital tool that curates fact checks and teaches people to spot viral misinformation.

The News Literacy Project’s public policy statements call on social media companies to:

• Provide and enforce clear community standards.
• Pursue the removal of malicious accounts, including those dedicated to pushing extremism and disinformation.
• Design adjustment of algorithms to reduce the spread of misinformation, promote credible information, and help reverse political division and polarization.

How Does Fake News Spread?

Through misplaced trust

The spread of fake news depends on networks. When a friend or family member shares disinformation, users are less likely to question whether it’s true. While we should trust those around us, we also need to recognize a crucial fact:

23% of social media users admit to purposely or accidentally sharing fake political news.

Many more have shared disinformation without ever realizing it. It’s important that we thoroughly investigate content before posting it. As Reagan once said, “trust but verify.”

Through fiery content

Fake content is often more eye-catching than regular news. Because of this, fake news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than real news.

Through bots and trolls

Bots and trolls speed up the spread of fake news.

Bots are…

• Computer programs that mimic human behavior on social media
• Best at sharing highly emotional, uninformative content within echo chambers
• Up to 15% of all Twitter accounts

Trolls are…

• Social media users who distribute inflammatory content (memes, stories, etc.)
• Better at convincing “outsiders” of false information

The bottom line: the “Power Law of Social Media”

​

The Power Law states that content spreads most quickly when shared by a few highly influential accounts, rather than many small or medium-sized accounts

The spread of content is further accelerated when targeted toward particular groups. While elderly, young, and less educated people are vulnerable to disinformation, users with extreme political beliefs are the most at-risk.

​

When social media companies use the popularity of content as a stand-in for quality and truth, they speed up the spread of disinformation.

Resources

-Monetization based on clicks

en.wikipedia.org,” Website monetization.” By Wikipedia Editors; websavers.ca, “Making Money With Pay Per Click.”; digitalcontentnext.org, “clickkbait ads have no place in publishers’ monetization strategy.” By Tobias Silber; linkedin.com, “The Clickbait Economy: Consequences of Monetising Attention.” By Leigh Borrell; sharethrough.com, “The True Cost Of Clickbait.”;

–Censorship by social network platforms

chekkee.com, “What Are the Pros and Cons of Censorship on Social Media?” By Alyssa Maano; blog.safedns.com, “Understanding Censorship: Exploring Banned Social Media, Content Filtering, and Internet Access Restrictions Worldwide.” By Olly Kusk; san.com, “Majority of Americans worried over social media censorship ahead of election.” By Karah Rucker; freedomforum.org, “Free Speech on Social Media: The Complete Guide.” By Lata Nott; pcmag.com, “Trump Signs Order ‘Ending Federal Censorship’ on Social Media Platforms.” By Jibin Joseph;

–Controlling searches on engines–by lowering priority for conservative right postings

spyfu.com, “How Do Search Engines Work? A Guide On Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking.” By Technical SEO; developers.google.com, “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide.”;

–Controlling what appears on your social media sites

aap.org, “Managing Content on Social Media Feeds.”; skyramtechnologies.com, “How to control who sees what in your multiple social media accounts.”;

–The dark web

dhs.gov, “Know the Threats.”; en.softonic.com, “5 Myths and truths about the dark web.” By Patrick Devaney; wizcase.com, “How to Access the Dark Web Safely: A 2025 Beginner’s Guide.” By Deep Shikha;

–Child pornography

popcenter.asu.edu, “Child Pornography on the Internet.” By Richard Wortley and Stephen Smallbone; nbcnews.com, “Inside the surveillance software tracking child porn offenders across the globe.” By Olivia Solon;

–Bullying on the internet

unicef.org,”Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it What teens want to know about cyberbullying.”; stopbullying.gov, ” Get Help Now.”;

–Fake News

intermatters.org, “What is misinformation?”; ncsc.org, “Disinformation and the public.”; marubeni.com, “#19 | Real Events Caused by Fake News in the US.”;

–Fact Checking

cfr.org, “Social Media and Online Speech: How Should Countries Regulate Tech Giants?” By Anshu Siripurapu and Willow Mwrrow; newslit.org. “Response to Meta’s decision to end fact-checking.”; identifytruth.org, “How Does Fake News Spread?”;

Randy’s Musings
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/04/02/randys-musings/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/04/13/randys-musings-2-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/10/22/randys-musing-3-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/10/05/randys-musing-4-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/11/12/randys-musings-5-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/11/23/randys-musings-6-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2021/12/17/randys-musings-7-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2022/12/30/randys-musings-8-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2024/04/16/randys-musings-9-0/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2024/11/22/randys-musings-10/
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2025/07/01/randys-musings-10-0-what-is-wrong-with-the-internet/