MNHQ: Update on Image Uploads

[LilyMumsnet]

Hi all,

As you'll be aware, we've switched image uploads off this week whilst we've been building a filter that will automatically detect images that should not be appearing on our site. We've been consulting experts and have built a tool which utilises some widely-used image detection software.

This afternoon, we will release this tool and therefore we will turn image uploads back on. We can't go into detail about how the tool works for obvious reasons but if you do spot anything of concern please report and/or get in touch with us at [email protected] and we'll look into it straight away.

The AI wasn't even checking the right thing.

How MNHQ couldn't forsee this happening, I have no idea.

Yes, it has caught images uploaded to the site and blocked them from appearing.

The AI wasn't even checking the right thing.
How MNHQ couldn't forsee this happening, I have no idea.

I do. Given it’s a mammoth site, advertising revenue etc, yet Mumsnet insist on using volunteers with no real ability to do anything, I suspect this also extends to IT where it wouldn’t surprise me if they insist on only using work experience students. They have had IT glitches for ages and while they are polite when you report problems, the ‘can you send screenshots, try this now, and then that’ has long led me to theorise they don’t actually have any IT professionals on board. The fact they could run a site like this without any screening tools (as is pretty standard for any site) had my jaw dropping through the floor and really confirmed it. So work experience kids or unskilled volunteers is my guess.

Moderation at the best of times is quite poor on here. Inflammatory and obviously fake posts get left up. Troll hunting, spam and mentioning certain other sites (not harmful sites either), seem the only things which get a quick reaction from HQ.

And flagging up grammar violations! Not me, but another poster had a post deleted for mentioning could of/would of etc. (5 in one post). No, it’s not important in the grand scheme of things, but not worthy of deletion, when so much else is left to stand.

It's a learning curve I suppose. FB has stuff getting through in comments on innocuous groups. Providing helpful links on orchid care say. There's some sickos out there.

And Facebook really is 'mammoth' - huge wealth and large number of employees

The AI wasn't even checking the right thing.

Well, it is checking the right thing but not all the right things. Agree it's a fairly obvious second line of attack though.

I'd be turning off link prettification too - there's a bit more pause for thought before clicking a link if you can see the url rather than an innocuous label.

Mumsnet is absolutely tiny compared to FB. FB has hundreds of thousands of people employed to check content battling millions of comments a second.

@BeckyAMumsnet

Yes, it has caught images uploaded to the site and blocked them from appearing.

That's positive news. I think it's worth mentioning this in your updates otherwise people are only aware of things that aren't working, rather than the measures that are.

Er…maybe scroll down to the bottom of the page?

That’s a very good idea, and easy to do.

I saw the last lot of images and felt so sorry for NW having to deal with it.

They should have a hotline to HQ to wake someone up to take care of it.

I rally hope they're in the process of getting proper round the clock cover but it takes time to employ more staff or change working patterns.

A simple stopgap might be to required posters have to have built up a few posts before being able to post images ? If you have to settle for "not ideal" I'd rather it was the "not ideal" that prevented this, not the "not ideal" that might let some horror slip though.

Wtf?
I thought they had installed some kind of AI watchdog, or guard programme or something to prevent this?
I'm glad I wasn't on last night, seeing images like last time is more than enough for one lifetime.
Mumsnet admin, again, please confirm that this matter has been reported to the Police.
(Repeat post, in case other thread gets deleted. As a retired social worker, I feel the obligation to have it confirmed that the Police are involved)

Yes, the problem was the filter operates on uploaded images attached to a post, but it wasn't being applied to image previews from a link. Image previews are currently disabled.

In light of recent events, we will no longer allow users to post sensitive images like this on the site. Thank you for your feedback.

We have passed the latest information on to the police this morning and of course will continue to do all we can to assist. Just to reiterate, the attacker did not upload an image directly to our site - they posted a link to an external website. That site then provided a preview of the image, which was automatically displayed. Since the image itself was never hosted by us, it did not go through our AI filters. We have taken steps to prevent this from happening again.

I know it's been said before but I think it's worth repeating: MNHQ need to pin a message at the top of every page explaining what happened and giving a very simple guide to what to do if you come across these images. The fact that they haven't done this, but have deleted threads discussing what happened, is abysmal.

They also need to pay for proper 24/7 moderation rather than taking advantage when of volunteers, but I appreciate this takes time. Pinning a message doesn't, and the fact they haven't done that reflects extremely badly.

Can you please say what steps have been taken to prevent links to websites containing images of CSA being posted and a preview appearing?

I imagine it is that the preview won't show. Is that permanent? I think it would be a good thing if it were.

Including tinyurl, imgur and the like.

Nasty stuff still gets through. Religious threats, scammers and obscene material. Ugh ..

I’m in Canada and I do a lot of my MN reading in the evening. When I saw the post about the new images last night, I just left. I think MN risks losing a lot of members for good if they don’t ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Is there a way we can disable seeing photos for our own accounts?

I understand that it was a link time.

Thank you for listening to people on this. I think it’s the right decision.

Besides, imagine how much you’d have to pay someone to look at photos of other people’s ringpieces all day.

@mnhq please could you provide guidance on what to do?