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Thorn
47
Child Sexual Abuse Material
February 24, 2021

Why an increase in reports of CSAM is actually a good thing

Today the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released its annual overview of the number of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports the organization received in 2020.  The 2020 overview from NCMEC is highlighted by a 28% increase…
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James, Thorn Staff
44
Children playing on the beach
CommunityTechnology For Good
December 28, 2020

20 things from 2020 we’re grateful for

2020 has been a year unlike any other—and chances are, unlike any year we’ll see for some time to come (fingers crossed). I’m not going to list all the things 2020 is already known for—you’ve heard plenty about those already.…
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Julie Cordua
47
A letter from CEO Julie Cordua
Technology For Good
December 18, 2020

Building technology to serve every child in 2020 and beyond

Friend, Nearly a decade of scrappy growth has taught us a lot about how to work with uncertainty — how to thrive in it. There wasn’t a playbook when we founded Thorn almost a decade ago.  We knew there was…
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Thorn
43
Teens on the beach
Child Sexual Abuse MaterialResearch
December 9, 2020

Thorn Research: Understanding sexually explicit images, self-produced by children

We’ve been hearing increasing concerns from our partners on the front lines about child sexual abuse material (CSAM) where there was no obvious abuser in the image. These images are referred to as self-generated images, or self-generated CSAM (SG-CSAM).  Self-generated…
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Sarah, Thorn Staff
10
Community
November 30, 2020

How to support Thorn for the 2020 holiday season

When we talk about a world where every child can be safe, curious, and happy, that world includes time with their families, playing games, and eating good food. As we approach the end of a trying and revealing year, we're…
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Thorn
13
Young girl looking at phone
News
November 19, 2020

Encryption trend threatens child safety gains

Today, Google announced plans to begin rolling out encryption for Android Messages. As experts working at the intersection of technology and child protection, we understand the real-world impact of this decision will be a step backwards in child safety. The…
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Thorn
37
Thorn Team
November 12, 2020

Thorn turns 8: Some of our proudest, and favorite, moments so far

8 years ago, Thorn was a vision with a mission statement: Thorn drives technology innovation to fight the sexual exploitation of children.  It wasn’t always clear what exactly Thorn would become. That’s what happens when you’re shocked and humbled by…
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Thorn
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Child Sex TraffickingChild Sexual Abuse Material
October 6, 2020

Decoding the language of child sexual exploitation: Acronyms to know

There’s no question that talking about this issue is extremely difficult. But to make progress it’s a conversation we must have more often. Bringing it into the light and talking about the facts is a powerful way to advocate for…
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Thorn
4
Child Sex Trafficking
September 29, 2020

How to find the truth behind viral stories around child sexual exploitation

When we came to work on this issue, we made a choice that we would be willing to have difficult conversations and make hard choices. We knew how difficult this topic would be. But if you're like millions of people…
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Thorn
17
Child Sex Trafficking
September 17, 2020

5 facts about child sex trafficking that will help you make a difference

At Thorn, we knew from the beginning that our work would require having difficult conversations and making hard choices. When you’re dealing with child sexual exploitation, there is no easy language to use, nor any off-the-shelf solutions. Recently the issue…
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