Hive Partners with Internet Watch Foundation to Reduce the Online Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Leading streaming platform Kick among the initial platforms to deploy IWF capabilities through Hive’s APIs

Hive Partners with Internet Watch Foundation to Reduce the Online Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Hive, a leading provider of cloud-based AI solutions including content moderation models used by hundreds of leading online communities, today announced a partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK-based nonprofit dedicated to stopping child sexual abuse online.

As part of the partnership, Hive will integrate IWF datasets into its content moderation offering for all customers using Hive’s models to analyze text in messages or overlaid on video and images. The IWF datasets include the IWF’s URL List, a continuously updated list averaging more than 8,000 webpages a day with confirmed images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), as well as the IWF Keywords List, a unique list of words, phrases, and codes offenders may use to conceal child sexual abuse imagery on legitimate networks and platforms. Users of Hive’s video and image moderation APIs who are or become IWF members will also be able to access IWF’s “hashes,” unique digital fingerprints of millions of known child sexual abuse images and videos, to identify criminal content and prevent it from being shared on their platforms.

"With the emergence and accessibility of generative AI technology, it is easier than ever before for bad actors to create and distribute harmful online content, including CSAM,” said Kevin Guo, Co-founder and CEO of Hive. "Hive’s AI models for content moderation provide a scalable way to manage moderation risks generally, and our partnership with the IWF allows us to further expand the role we are playing in specifically helping our customers protect the safety and wellbeing of children."

Hive's AI content moderation solution has become trusted by hundreds of online platforms to protect users and human moderators from exposure to sexual content, violence and gore, drugs, hate speech, and other categories of harmful content. Hive’s partnership with the IWF bolsters Hive’s capabilities in helping its customers detect and mitigate CSAM on their platforms through a single integrated API.

Leading streaming platform KICK, known for its creator-first approach is among the Hive customers accessing IWF capabilities. "During 2024, KICK processed approximately 5 billion chat messages and 900 million frames of livestreamed video through Hive’s model. This enabled us to enhance our existing real-time moderation capabilities and scale our overall safety program," said Ryan Webb, Head of Operations, at KICK. "The integration of IWF datasets into Hive’s moderation models further supports our commitment to preventing CSAM and protecting over 50 million KICK users from harmful content.”

In 2023, the IWF acted to remove over 275,000 webpages containing child sexual abuse, more than ever before in its history. Through vital collaboration with Hive and other tech industry organizations, the IWF ensures that efforts to disrupt child sexual abuse online are strengthened, enabling more images and videos to be blocked and removed while protecting children in online spaces.

Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO of the IWF, said: “Thwarting attempts by offenders to view, share and profit from the distribution of horrific images of child sexual abuse on the internet is not a task that can be conducted by the IWF alone. Strong partnerships with a clear focus on tackling child sexual abuse material online are integral to success, which is why we are grateful to organisations like Hive who are determined to make a difference. Together we can work towards a better, safer internet for all.”

Learn more about IWF.

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About Hive

Hive is the leading provider of AI-powered content intelligence, offering a portfolio of AI solutions that understand, search, and generate content across video, image, text, and audio content. Hive’s AI solutions are trusted by hundreds of the world's largest and most innovative organizations. The company empowers developers with a portfolio of best-in-class, pre-trained AI models, processing billions of customer API requests every month. Hive also offers turnkey software products powered by proprietary AI models and datasets, unlocking breakthrough applications for critical business needs with deep learning and generative AI. Collectively, Hive's technology is transforming how organizations approach content moderation, content authentication (including the detection of AI-generated content and deepfakes), media operations, marketing measurement, and more.