Update from MNHQ addressing the recent images posted on the site

@JustineMumsnet would this be relevant and any help to Mumsnet? They don't define "small" as in "small forum", "small platform", etc. but I came across another article recently (can't remember where) that talked about "small forums of under 70 million users"!

Teens face ‘crisis’ of online sexual exploitation as charity says major new Government-backed scheme will ‘put rocket boosters’ on Online Safety Act
Published: Wed 23 Apr 2025

Image Intercept is a new tool which has been made possible through funding support from the Home Office.

It is the first free to use initiative in the UK aimed at preventing the spread of known illegal content depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Small businesses, online platforms, and start-ups can now, with a simple code plug-in, block imagery using the IWF’s database of 2,883,015 individual hashes of criminal imagery which the charity has amassed.

It will help give whole swathes of the internet 24-hour protection and, crucially, will help achieve the safety aims set out under the Online Safety Act.

www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/teens-face-crisis-of-online-sexual-exploitation-as-charity-says-major-new-government-backed-scheme-will-put-rocket-boosters-on-online-safety-act/

Just to clarify, there is a The Night Watch topic. I assume the watchers follow that one specifically.

Ah, thank you!

@NoWordForFluffy the Night Watch threads are in the “Mumsnet Stuff” topic

A hinny is the opposite of a mule. But I don’t think that’s how it was being used in this context.

It's a term of female endearment from NE England and Scotland, so it's being used sarcastically, like "okay dear".

Why mustn’t I? I feel attacked on here.

What’s hinny?

You're just sharing your views like everyone else. You mustn't take it all so personally.

I'm sure you will hinny.

I’m glad it made you laugh @kittensinthekitchen but this thread is just typical of MN these days and makes me wonder why I waste my time posting.

I love that there's all this bickering, and here comes Becky to not answer the question that actually got asked 😂

Exactly.

They don't have to do anything, they choose to. I presume if they stopped doing it then something else would be arranged.

It's noticeable that trolls are aware they can do this more easily, and it stays up for longer, at night time UK and especially on weekends. That's why I think it's time for higher level overnight moderation.

That's not the point @Newbutoldfather . Unpaid volunteers shouldn't have to do that. And the 'you'll never stop it completely' viewpoint doesn't mean that MN can't and shouldn't try to look after its volunteers and users better than this.

People are way too sensitive.

This is an adult site on the internet. I didn’t see the CSA images and those should never have happened (I thought there was technology which could stop those?), but pictures of vomit and poo on a parenting site? Surely most parents can cope with that, especially as many come with trigger warnings, anyway, Yet people still then open them and moan. What is that about?

Medical images are sometimes disgusting and yet many have led to useful and important advice.

And the odd disgusting troll post? Surely we can cope as adults and parents (I know there are some non parents)? You will never stop troll posts and getting rid of them within 30 minutes seems pretty good to me.

I’ll post whatever I want to post @gamerchickjust like you do

Posting that more photos have been posted on a thread about CSA and not giving context ,that you actually mean you find what's in this poo threads disgusting, just causes more alarm.

Report the threads if they bother you. The photo has to be clicked on to see it.

There’s a difference between having an opinion and telling others that their opinion is wrong @Janiie

It's called different opinions, which is allowed.

When it is probably feasible to hide all posts from a troll immediately why not have that option? The only people who want disgusting posts to remain are those who want people reading them.

There were no images posted last night that I saw. The offensive content was text. I went and looked for this thread to revive it because it contains the bulk of discussion about how overnight moderation should be done in future. For me, THAT'S the issue here, and I would like MNHQ to address it squarely.

As I said in my earlier post, this is not finding fault with the Night Watch, about anything they've done, the speed of it or otherwise. I am grateful to them for doing it - I believe still on an unpaid basis. The point is that they shouldn't have to. I know that, regrettably, women-focused sites attract bad faith actors, as Justine put it, or predators, weirdos and trolls, should you prefer. That for me is no excuse to shrug and say 'it's just what happens'. There should be paid professionals, and professional tools, to do this overnight for a site of this profile and with this revenue base.

I repeat: I am asking, once again, for Mumsnet to realise they can no longer put off bringing in professional overnight moderation. It is simply not fair on the Night Watch or on users to still have a situation where they are asked to help but can actually do very little. The discussion about images has distracted from this, but here we are again. Proper overnight moderation, please. Now.

I saw that one @Efacsenand I was about to open it to offer advice or at least solidarity until I realised it said photo was included

There was a 'please check my episiotomy scar post with graphic photo warning' a few days ago and I checked a few times to see if it was caught by the AI filter - you'll be pleased to hear that the photo never appeared

So it seems that it works on a data-set of one fanny photo

Screening out sanitary towel, nappy and toilet contents doesn't happen - would be nice but don't think that was ever the intention