How VSCO Protected Its Platform and Community of Photographers from CSAM with Safer by Thorn

Since its founding, VSCO has believed in proactively protecting the wellbeing of its global community of 300+ million registered users, who upload photos and videos to its platform every day. To protect its platform and photographers, VSCO used Safer – Thorn’s all-in-one solution to detect, review and report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) at scale from 2020 to 2025.

A Safety by Design Approach

VSCO’s strong focus on photographers’ work and experience on the platform is an extension of its safety by design ethos. As they have developed the platform and grown, the company has invested in infrastructure that safeguards against harmful content so its photographer community never has to see it.

A desire to have comprehensive protection against CSAM led VSCO’s trust and safety team straight to Thorn. The VSCO team knew about our mission to build technology to defend children from sexual abuse, and were interested in utilizing Safer.

Collaboration is Key

With the rise of user-generated content, the spread of CSAM has accelerated. Often, the public is surprised to find CSAM and child exploitation spreading on platforms they use everyday. 

Thorn is dedicated to providing tools and resources to content-hosting platforms as they are key partners in combating the viral spread of CSAM. Deploying Safer helped VSCO deliver on its promise of being a trusted platform and providing a safe experience for its photographer community. 

Between 2020 and 2025, VSCO leveraged Safer to flag 21,329 images and videos as suspected CSAM and detect 1,191 instances of known CSAM. By proactively fighting the spread of CSAM, VSCO ensured photographers weren’t exposed to harmful content.

Together, VSCO and Safer made an impact.