Big tech companies to provide secret evidence in inquiry into online child sex abuse

Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google are to give secret evidence to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) as it examines the growing problem of online exploitation.

Representatives of the four global tech companies will make part of their submissions in closed sessions of the inquiry, which is being held in Southwark, south London.

At the opening of a new strand of IICSA hearings, William Chapman, a barrister representing grooming and abuse victims, called on the major technology companies to do far more to “curb the modern scourge” of sex crimes carried out via the internet.

Chapman, acting for the law firm Switalskis, also called for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to change its rules so that victims of online abuse would be eligible for payments in future.

“In the real world,” he said, “a playground created for children would have to be safe … It would not be sufficient to put up a notice which said: ‘Enter at your own risk.’” That, however, mirrored the state of the internet today, he said.

He said Bing, the second most popular search engine after Google, had recently provided links to child pornography sites to those entering even common search terms.

He said the founders of the largest tech companies portrayed themselves as the heroes of the technological revolution but had legendary wealth and “notorious tax arrangements”.

“Is it really beyond the wealth and wit of these companies to prevent and detect child sexual abuse on their platforms or is there something incompatible with their commercial objectives and culture that makes them bridle at the necessary steps to curb the modern scourge?”