Update from MNHQ addressing the recent images posted on the site

Exactly! "Contactable" means a volunteer will be the first line of defence responsible for escalating to the senior person.

@kittensinthekitchen yes obfuscation is a good word: the fact is that due to a lack of basic filters many (including me) have now been exposed to serious images of child abuse and Mumsnet became the publisher of such images.
Proper moderation would have been a useful second line of defence.

Sadly not the case!

Surely illegal images of CSA wouldn’t be found on normal web- so any links to illegal stuff would be on darkweb and not accessible by a simple link. ( it was links I was talking about)

Just available is not enough. They need to have full access and powers and be logged on and dealing with the reports that Nightwatch can't see.

Nightwatch can be "extra" or "back up" they shouldn't be the first line of defence.

Good to hear. I'm actually really shocked that this has never been the case in a business established 25 years ago.

Maybe that's me, as I have a background in contingency planning within the Govt, and literally all eventualities are covered in a comprehensive contingency plan. So your senior and key staff are identified, and different scenarios are all mapped out and allocated to different staff members (with appropriate levels of escalation which would involve all members of the core contingency management team) So, for example, an aeroplane crashes into your HQ, you scramble your team and a temporary workspace and get straight on with media comms, family liason etc. Similarly, a natural disaster, terror or major cyber attack all have simikar but specific detailed steps and protocols to follow. A business should never be left for a minute in the hands of anyone who is not able to contact senior management (even if that's via someone else within the organisation)

All members of a contingency team should have both paper and electronic copies of the plan on portable devices. The plan is updated monthly by a nominated person. Changes to telephone numbers are noted immediately etc. I'm sorry if I'm stating anything obvious, I just assumed all businesses had these things in place for every imaginable eventuality at varying levels of severity.

I'm not talking about paying for counselling or whatever, merely providing links to eg victim support and the internet watch foundation and any other relevant sources of already available support/advice. I can't see how that can be construed as any sort of admission of liability.

Thank you for letting us know @JustineMumsnet What a dreadful thing to happen. I am so glad I went to bed early-ish that night. I couldn't bear to see anything like that, and my heart goes out to anyone who did see these images.

Of course they didn't.
Registrations = posts = page clicks = revenue.

The spirit of Mumsnet

Bingo chat moderators are paid. I used to do the job.

If your "automated moderation controls" didn't flag up reports that there was illegal CSA images being hosted on Mumsnet, it is nowhere near fit for purpose.

Your obfuscation on this thread, and refusal to respond to basic, reasonable questions regarding this incident is speaking volumes.

It is not just sites like Reddit where you have individual forums/boards set up by users that rely on volunteer mods, pretty much all online chat forums, including other profitable groups like the chat functions on many Bingo/gambling sites.

Whether or not it is right that a profit-making business relies on volunteers is another discussion entirely, but I do feel it is unfair to call MN out on this when it is pretty much industry standard.

Having someone senior "on call" who can take rapid actions is a good first step but I'm not convinced it is sufficient.

It is worth noting that when the BBC introduced senior producer monitoring after the Russell Brand debacle, they required the on-call producer to be on hand in the building and listening to output if anything live was being broadcast.

I also think a "next step" will be found to be needed which includes some kinds of paid moderation/overview as well as a senior person being on call. However I understand that it may take time to get to this up and running and having a senior person with executive making powers and abilities (it is no use someone having the power to suspend picture uploads if there is no- one with the technical knowledge to enact the decision available) is a great first step.

JustineMumsnet
Yes I agree that someone Senior needs to be contactable at all times. That's something we're absolutely ensuring is the case going forward.

I'm amazed that this hasn't been in place before. It still wouldn't be enough. Just contactable? Not actually working at night?

Also if the report button did work as you say why were images up for hours?

@JustineMumsnet why were there no filters in place? Moderators would be exposed to this kind of illegal material very rarely if filters are in place (and see the safeguards and procedures that the Internet Watch Foundation has for their own staff for exposure to images of child sexual abuse).

Did you not suspend new registrations?

She didn't say it would be a paid mod though? If it's a matter of someone being on call, I'm not sure that's good enough. I could be wrong though, some clarification on this point would be good?

Oh stop being a cheapskate and ensure there is always a paid professional available.

One of Justine's later posts says they're going to make sure there's always someone senior available.

Thank you @JustineMumsnet for filling us in on this. This feels like an excellent step in the right direction and will hopefully mean problems can be dealt with faster.

I agree. I also believe that there are things happening at the backend to stop it happening again.

How has this post addressed anything for you? It really doesn't say much.

Oh stop being a cheapskate and ensure there is always a paid professional available.

Volunteer moderators are fine to deal with low level stuff and to provide additional eyes and ears but it is unreasonable to expect them to be the only moderators available on a site like this. By relying upon volunteers you can't guarantee that there is 24/7 moderation, it was only luck that people were available to deal with this incident.

You should consider your duty of care to your users AND your volunteers. You are putting them at risk and yourself at risk.

It is essential that there is always someone with full access and decision making capabilities on duty.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that lots of people did not know that they should report via the night watch section rather than using the report button. This needs to be made much clearer so that if there are any future events they can be delt with much quicker.

Edit: Not sure if my post is relevant now as crossed post with Justine

Yes I had a protracted conversation with the mods about this - a particular term I've been reporting for years is no longer deleted. The party line is that that is no change in policy. When I sent a list of 40+ report numbers from my inbox history that wasn't acknowledged.