Twitter accused of aiding child abuse by allowing 'explosion' of online paedophile communities

Twitter has been accused of aiding child abuse by allowing paedophiles to openly organise and form associations on its service.

The social network lets users discuss their "attraction towards minors" and talk about child abuse as a phenomenon as long as they do not "promote or glorify" actual child abuse "in any way".

The result has been to create an online home for self-declared "non-offending" paedophiles, who often call themselves "minor-attracted persons" (MAPs) and declare their "age of attraction" in their user profiles.

But Michael Salter, a professor of criminology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, said that the policy had caused "paedophile networks" on Twitter to "explode", often spilling over into the promotion of child abuse and images of child abuse.

Prof Salter said: "Today I had to report a user who states he is attracted to children, advocates for contact offending against children, and has an image of him with a child in his bio pic.

"I have no confidence whatsoever that Twitter will take action against this user, let alone refer his details to relevant child protection and law enforcement authorities.

"It is manifestly unsafe to platform unmonitored public conversations between large groups of paedophiles. The sexual desires and social inclusion of paedophiles have been prioritised by Twitter over the safety of children on the platform or in the community.

"Paedophiles need early intervention, treatment and support for behaviour change. They do not need a public forum to discuss their sexual attraction to children."

A spokesman for Twitter said that it exercised "zero tolerance" towards "any material that features or promotes child sexual exploitation".  Prof Slater blamed the policy to to a "quiet" change to Twitter's terms of service earlier this year, which he said did not undergo proper consultation with child protection experts, who would "never have endorsed [it]".

In June 2019, according to the Internet Archive, Twitter's public rules on child abuse was updated with a new paragraph, which read specified that "discussions related to child sexual exploitation as a phenomenon or attraction towards minors are permitted" as long as they do not promote real-world wrongdoing.

But company spokesman claimed that there had been no change in policy, and only a change in how the policy was communicated to users, although he declined to say whether there had been any change in how the policy is interpreted and enforced.

He said that Twitter's rules undergo extensive consultation with academics and experts who sit on its Trust and Safety Council, which includes child protection advocates such as the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Family Online Safety Institute and the Internet Watch Foundation.

Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC's director of broadcast and digital, said: "NCMEC was not asked to be involved in shaping Twitter’s updated policy on chief exploitation." The other two organisations did not respond to questions about whether they had been consulted. 

Twitter's spokesman said: "Twitter has zero tolerance towards any material that features or promotes child sexual exploitation. Regardless of the intent, viewing, sharing, or linking to child sexual exploitation material contributes to the re-victimisation of the depicted children. It has no place on our service."

The company continues to ban other behaviour including "sharing fantasies about" or promoting child abuse, "expressing a desire to obtain" child abuse material and engaging children in "sexually explicit conversation".

On Thursday, numerous Twitter accounts belonging to self-confessed "MAPs" remained online,  with many noting their opposition to "all forms of child abuse" or defining themselves as "anti-contact".

"Paedophilia is not the same as child molestation," said one, while another declared their intention to block all "pro-contacts... on sight". Some used the hashtag #NotAMonster. 

Andy Burrows, head of online safety at the NSPCC, stopped short of condemning the rules, but said: “Twitter needs to set out what proactive steps it’s taking to ensure that abuse isn’t facilitated on its platform and that children’s safety is the first priority."

He added that "self-regulation" of the technology industry must end, backing the Telegraph's campaign to impose a legal duty of care on large social media firms to protect children. 

The policy may have been influenced by a letter to Twitter from a group of researchers and psychologists including Dr James Cantor, a sexologist who is well known for advocating the destigmatisation of paedophilia, protesting against the suspension of Twitter accounts belonging to a number of "non-offending, anti-contact" paedophiles.

The letter said: "For many [paedophiles], avoiding offending depends upon a network of support from family, peers, and professionals.

"Rather than reducing the incidence of child sexual abuse, if anything, [suspending accounts] increases the risk that some paedophiles will be unable to obtain the peer or professional support that they may need in order to avoid offending behaviour. 

"It is also likely to increase the stigma and isolation associated with paedophilia and thereby increase the likelihood of some MAPs acting on their sexual feelings."

Dr Cantor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was updated at 9:51am to clarify the authorship of the letter and the timeline of correspondence with Dr Cantor.