If you suspect a child is in immediate danger in any way, contact the police immediately.

The information provided by IFTAS is for general guidance and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. IFTAS is not a law firm and does not offer legal services. For advice on legal or regulatory matters, please consult a qualified professional.

Background

If you become aware of CSAM or CSEA on your services you may be legally required to report your finding to a child safety hotline or law enforcement. In general, the country in which you host the media has jurisdiction. Exactly what needs to be reported, how quickly, and to whom varies depending on the country and type of provider.

Electronic service providers (this includes all ActivityPub services that are not single-user instances) are not generally required to actively seek out CSAM, but simply to report it when they are made aware of it.

To explore your legal requirements, check the Global Legislative Review in this document: https://cdn.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/CSAM-Model-Law-9th-Ed-FINAL-12-3-18-1.pdf

The “ISP Reporting” column defines your requirements (ISP in this context includes electronic communication service providers)

Be aware that some jurisdictions may require you to store the material for a law enforcement/investigatory purpose, in which case you must have processes in place to securely store and limit access to the material for a set period of time.

List of national reporting hotlines

By country: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/148666?hl=en

If you can’t find your country listed, contact INHOPE through their website: https://inhope.org/