Update from MNHQ addressing the recent images posted on the site

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,
There have been a number of threads discussing what happened re the posting of CSA images on site and so I want to be absolutely clear: we would never seek to shut down reasonable criticism and we're taking on board all the feedback and will be carefully considering how we can improve our procedures and moderation to prevent this happening again.

As a temporary measure, we have suspended all image posting and will soon be implementing AI filters to flag illegal/disturbing images before they appear on the site. We’re also liaising with external specialists to see if there are any further tools we can employ to help us prevent this from happening again in the future. We reported it to the police first thing the morning after the attack and we have a follow up meeting with them tomorrow.

It's also pretty clear from what we can see behind the scenes that there is an ongoing, coordinated effort from trolls to further inflame these discussions, and cause as much disruption as possible. We are taking steps to remove bad faith actors, but we know this can be frustrating for those who just want to express your views about what happened. If you come across any posts that seem designed to stir up more conflict rather than contribute constructively, please do report them - your reports really help us to act swiftly. Many thanks for your patience while we work to sort this out.

This is our place and I reserve the right to take out the trash to keep it nice.

So we go word based to stop this happening again, do we allow links?

I completely agree.

Is ''PH'' Piston heads?
I would have thought that decent Men would also be absolutely repulsed by CSA images.

Yes. you're absolutely right. I should have ignored your question to me.

Our Daily Post online newspaper on FB in the comments is getting some grim links. Mostly political unpleasantness and scams though.

This sounds like a line from a WWE wrestling match

Mnhq might be able to stop it happening again with imagery using tech tools idk

Imo even moderators shouldn't be exposed at any time so that kind of personal checking system doesn't really work

But maybe they can put something in place

Just seen the thread, and the Men seem appalled that illegal images were used.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=&t=2106266

Don’t fuck with menopausal women. We don’t fake elbow drops.

The first one I personally reported twice. The second time because it was still there. There were 7 or 8 posts saying that they had reported too. The images stayed there for over ten minutes.

It really is amazing how many people are so vocal about the NW volunteers needing to be paid now....after the fact! I would love to see the links to all your previous posts asking staff why they didn't have paid nighttime mods, but I won't, because there aren't any!

From the intro link up the thread NW was introduced in 2014 - so has been in place and worked for over 10 years - Justine and the team cannot be blamed for it not working following an unprecedented incident in over 20 years of MN existing.

The first focus is and should be focusing on what needs to be done to practically stop this happening again - which from Justine's updates, it seems they are:

Removing the ability to post pictures
Strengthening the filters
Lowering the auto-hide threshold for reported posts
Making sure someone senior in on hand overnight

I'm sure that after they have got that in place, they will look at how to moderate the site overnight on a paid basis - but that will take time as they will likely need HR advice to determine the right contracts for unsociable working hours (or over seas workers) and actually recruit to the posts.

I didn't see the incident play out last night, thankfully, and I haven't been on MN a huge amount today, but it is being mentioned everywhere, and this thread has been in active since it was posted - I fully support the team deleting the multitude of threads that keep popping up and just using this one - firstly because multiple threads on the same topic are annoying, they are difficult to mod where there are such strong feelings.

However, most importantly even just discussion about CSA images may very well be triggering for some people who are survivors of it, so keeping the thread in site stuff and not allowing it to pop up all over the forum is the right thing to do.

The only slight criticism I have is the lack of signposting for those affected - a locked thread at the top of each subject forum with relevant support links would be good.

Piston Heads, a Men's Forum where they mentioned Mumsnet being targeted had the OP say :

Well that's a new level of sick.
^^
From an attackers perspective, it's a sure way to cause huge disruption - however, the material used means that a lot of resource will hopefully be put into identifying and arresting those responsible.
^^
I hope PH {Piston Heads} is watching and taking note, because any forum could be victim to this - and now the genie is out of the bottle, it will happen again.

@TheDowagerCountessofPembroke the NW don't have access to the report system. They did the best they could

It really is amazing how many people are so vocal about the NW volunteers needing to be paid now....after the fact! I would love to see the links to all your previous posts asking staff why they didn't have paid nighttime mods, but I won't, because there aren't any!

There's been lots of threads and posts over the years asking that they be paid or questioning why they're not.

I hope the children in the images are found and given safety. It breaks my heart knowing any child suffers.

I wish nothing but misery, pain and suffering for the putrid little person who did this.

I was online but luckily didn’t see anything. What is incredibly sad is the new mums full of hormones and anxiety scrolling with babes in arms probably saw some of those horrific images.

I hope that anyone who had the unfortunate luck of viewing those images is getting support. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with this.

@BloominNora quite a lot of people didn't know about how to report to the the night watch let alone they weren't paid! It's become apparent with this.

”It really is amazing how many people are so vocal about the NW volunteers needing to be paid now....after the fact! I would love to see the links to all your previous posts asking staff why they didn't have paid nighttime mods, but I won't, because there aren't any!”

@BloominNora - clearly this issue has brought the issue of the unpaid, voluntary nature of the Night Watch into stark focus. It has done so for me - and yes, I haven’t asked about paying the night time mods before - I’m afraid my crystal ball let me down, and I didn’t foresee some vile excuse for a human being would attack MN with CSA images. Does that mean I can’t have an opinion on the matter now?

It really is amazing how many people are so vocal about the NW volunteers needing to be paid now....after the fact! I would love to see the links to all your previous posts asking staff why they didn't have paid nighttime mods, but I won't, because there aren't any

I'm embarrassed for you. There have been many threads over the years about it.

I wasn't aware that ''Night Watch'' were unpaid volunteers, either, before this incident.

Thank you. I can’t begin to imagine what you and others that have witnessed the abuse images must be feeling, there’s nothing I can say that can make it better. I hope you find some support ❤️

It is astonishing that some people can see that someone would come on MN and post horrendous, criminal images in order to attack both users of MN and MN itself, but then still disbelieve that people would come on here and post grab-the-pitchfork type posts to wind up MNetters and attack MN itself.

I agree. I thought you just pressed report at any time of the day or night. I thought posts on site stuff were because no one had responded to the reports.

Why aren't they paid?
Well that's easy, they are willing to work for free, why would anyone pay for something which is being offered for free.
I'm not surprised that MN doesnt want to pay them, employers will always pay as little as they can get away with. I'm just surprised that anyone would do it for free!

I have been on here for a long time, maybe 20 years and was not aware that the night watch was solely volunteers. It’s not good enough tosay it’s worked fine for years so how were MNHQ to know it could go wrong. The internet has changed dramatically in recent years and with the business they are they should be one step ahead.
MNHQ you are culpable and need to make sure nothing similar can ever happen again. You also need to anticipate other potential attacks and take action to prevent them.