Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content
The GSMA’s Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content is a voluntary mobile
industry initiative to prevent anyone from hosting, accessing or profiting from child sexual abuse content using mobile networks or services. Currently, 15 mobile operator groups and four independents are alliance members, covering approximately 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 67 countries. Through a combination of technical measures, co-operation and information sharing, the Mobile Alliance is working to stem, and ultimately reverse, the growth of online child sexual abuse content around the world.
Alliance members have made the commitment to:
Implement technical mechanisms to prevent access to URLs identified by an appropriate, internationally recognised agency as hosting child sexual abuse content
Implement ‘notice and take down’ processes to enable the removal of any child sexual abuse content posted on their own services
Support and promote hotlines or other mechanisms for customers to report child sexual abuse content discovered on the internet or on mobile content services
The Mobile Alliance also contributes to wider efforts to eradicate online child sexual
abuse content by publishing guidance and toolkits for the benefit of the whole mobile
industry. For example, it has produced a guide to establishing and managing a hotline in
collaboration with INHOPE,the umbrella organisation for hotlines. It also collaborates with the European Financial Coalition and the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.
How Reports of Child Sexual Abuse Content Are Typically Assessed
A report of suspected illegal child sexual abuse content is made by an internet user,
directly or through their internet service provider (ISP) or mobile operator
National hotline or law enforcement agency (LEA) assesses the content
If the content is hosted in the same country as the hotline or LEA,notice and take
down processes are instigated and the content is removed.
If the content is hosted in a different country, the report is passed on to INHOPE or the relevant LEA.
Some countries also add the URL to a ‘block list’ that allows ISPs and mobile.