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Video Content – Protecting Children

Term: NSFW – implies photo, video, or sound as not being something that you would normally want to view or listen to in a place of regular business (or in a public place).

In my youth I was dismayed to discover that children could be found in NSFW movies on BBS Boards and the Internet. So I started to “remove” those BBS Boards and websites until I was informed that I was impeding investigations and destroying evidence. A few years ago I took a course in Cyber Warfare, and another in Cyber Investigations (Cyber Intelligence) and looked into what efforts were in place to combat the exploitation of children in NSFW activities. I discovered that a software program called “MEMEX” had been written to help combat human trafficking – it scoured the Internet for associated content and provided information to various agencies. As well, Microsoft had developed an application called “PhotoDNA” which could uniquely identify a picture’s origin. I also found a video detection system that could identify actors in a video! I reached out to them all, making sure that they were aware of each other’s efforts, and suggested that combining them could produce one single application that could scour the Internet for video content and pictures, looking for missing and exploited children. Of course, you never expect to hear back from anyone that you reach out to, as most individuals are seeking monetary compensation for their ideas – but I always wondered where my idea went…

So I created a solution based off three others, using Python, with the application able to detect NSFW content, detect faces, estimate the person’s age and gender using their face, and search through any provided picture library to identify them. I also developed another application that removes NSFW content from videos. Both software applications can be found here.

Since then, MEMEX has been re-written by Stanford, and altered per more current needs. I’ve noticed that there is still limited software available geared towards detecting whether video is “Safe For Work” or not. I have not been able to find any solutions are not ‘fluid’ with individual’s multi-media requirements – meaning that most solutions require you to run a program and then manually scan a sound, picture, or video segment for NSFW content. I have also reached out to some of the agencies / companies that are working to protect children from adult content and from exploitation (Thorn, DIG, Microsoft PhotoDNA, NetClean, MissingKids, Internet Watch Foundation, CyberTip!, Fight The New Drug) and offered ideas and connections to other agencies hoping this would serve to improve their capabilities or merge with other companies to improve their products / offerings.

Internet Content

I do not believe that the Internet should be treat as a different communications / information medium than others. For example when you go to a store children, teens, and young adults, cannot easily see or purchase cigarettes, alcohol, and adult material – you have to go to specific areas in a store, or to specific stores, to view, access, and purchase it. I truly do not understand why adult content is so freely accessible on the Internet as this medium is even easier for minors to have access to.

I generally get mixed comments when I discuss this openly with others, and have noticed that people’s opinions generally fall in three buckets: they agree with me, they don’t care, or they immediately advise me that this would restrict freedom of speech / expression. Those not agreeing with my opinion usually carry a negative or angry tone in their responses, advising:

  1. That everyone should use some sort of content rating filter, just you can with some televisions.
  2. Adults should be supervising their children on the Internet (at all times).
  3. The Internet was initially designed for information to be freely available, and lacks the proper framework to allow content to be segregated.

Of course, these points are then easily countered with:

  1. Children left unattended watching the television can still stumble onto channels airing undesirable content – not all televisions or channels offer or use this capability / feature. And of course, this is not that easily setup on the Internet using existing tools. Further, TV channels do not change regularly, so you do not have to regularly check them once they are set, but this is not true on the Internet as it changes often, making it difficult (or impossible) to block content.
  2. I’m uncertain as to how possible it would be for an adult to absolutely ensure that their children only access the Internet when they are present. They would need to take physical control of their child’s device, limit where they go, and find the time to sit with them and watch their every use. Of course, who has time for this? And even with this, a child can still mistype a search word or click on the wrong link by mistake…
  3. While I agree the framework used on the Internet lacks an ability to absolutely ensure segregation of content that doesn’t mean that one could not be introduced or that improvements could not be made. Or did we suddenly lose the ability to innovate? I believe the best solution would be to make the Internet conform to the other mediums and physical world, by pushing adult content into its own separate area (like forcing the use of the .XXX extension for adult content websites), and the provisioning of tools to help block NSFW content.

Money

While I’ve learned that ISP’s have access to technologies that could be used to block a significant amount of content – they lack interest. If an ISP were to use some of the available technologies to block NSFW content then their customers would not have to install their own solutions and monitor their children so closely. I have suggested to many of the larger Internet Service Providers offer child-safe solutions at the current standard cost and sell unrestricted packages for just a little more money. I even put them in touch with some of the companies offering technologies that could be easily integrated into an ISP’s offering – yet not one company has responded positively to my suggestion. I’ve even contacted ISP’s governing bodies (ISPANZ and CATA) in an attempt to instantiate change, but have learned that adult content is essentially a ‘recession free’ revenue generator from both the manufacturer, distributors, and the ISP’s perspectives – so therefore most lack interest.

Unfortunately it seems that ISP’s in Canada are still resisting the implementation of filters that block NSFW content. You can switch to one of these providers that belong to the Canadian Coalition Against Internet Child Exploitation, which maintains a list of websites that host child pornography and block access to them outright. HOWEVER, this does not block any other form of NSFW content, so even if you do this you will still need to block the remaining content yourself. There are a couple of companies that have created detection systems that ISP’s can use to help block adult content (Optenet, allot, Cloudinary, Nanonets) – they suggest you contact your ISP and request that the ISP offer a content blocking package.

How Can You Block NSFW Content?

This is extremely challenging! You must consider that:

  • NSFW content can be delivered in many ways, such as: websites, videos, BitTorrent, chat forums, Android apps, and etc..
  • To make it more difficult, any one of those mediums might be 99% safe, and have only one single NSFW item on it.

Because there are so many content delivery methods available, this tutorial will focus on blocking the majority of the NSFW content available on the web. Before we start, you’ll need to be aware of the following:

  • Everything on the Internet (computer, website, etc.) is assigned both a number and a name that people can use to reference it. The numbers will look something like this: 192.168.50.145 or 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. These numbers are called “IP Addresses”.
  • DNS is a system that translates these computer / website names to IP Addresses. This DNS system is made available by DNS providers, and there are a lot of them. Some DNS providers offer any combination of the services listed below:
    • blocking adult content on websites,
    • block malware and viruses on websites or linked to websites,
    • block gambling websites,
    • block proxies (proxies are used to bypass firewalls),
    • force Google search mode to “safe mode”.
  • Your computer or device knows which DNS provider to use because it has been setup to use that specific DNS provider. As everything on the Internet has been provided an IP Address then it makes sense that your chosen DNS provider has also been assigned an IP Address. In fact, each DNS provider has been assigned two IP Addresses (in case the first IP Address is too busy to answer your computer’s request)! The first IP Addresses is called the “Primary DNS Server” and the second, “Secondary DNS Server”.
  • Most home computers, devices, or networks connect to the Internet using a device that was provided by their ISP. This device is usually called a Router. It is in this device that you will need to select which DNS provider you wish to use, as every other device in your house that connects to the Internet will most likely use the DNS set up in the router. In my case, I have a wireless home router that connects to the Internet using a fiber connection. My home network is plugged into this router, and I have several wireless devices using it as well, and they all use the DNS set up in the router.
  • In order to set up or change the configuration of a Router, you will need to log into it. You usually do this by browsing to it using your Internet Browser. You’ll need to know what the IP Address of the Router is, how to log into it, and be familiar with the various configuration screens (or reference the Router’s user manual). Note that with there being so many different Brands and types of Routers available I cannot guide you step by step through the procedure to change the DNS on your Router, so if you are technology friendly then I encourage you to download a user manual for your Router and give it a whirl, otherwise I suggest you seek someone’s assistance or contact your ISP for help. Note that some ISP’s will change your DNS for you upon request – for free!
  • Of course, you may connect to the Internet via a different method – if you are uncertain then you’ll need to ask your Internet provider.

Guide To Blocking NSFW Content On Websites

I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of DNS providers, and that some offer the ability to block various types of websites (NSFW, gambling, etc.). Of the DNS providers I’ve reviewed I liked this one. Note that I do not get any financial incentive in this suggestion, please check around to see which one you think is best! I liked the offering called, “Adult Filter” as it blocks adult content, malware, viruses, and forces Google search to “Safe Mode”. This procedure references this DNS provider, who uses the following IP Addresses: Primary DNS Server is: 185.228.168.10 and the Secondary DNS Server is: 185.228.169.11.

Follow these core steps:

  1. Browse to and log onto the Router.
  2. Navigate to the DNS setup area and change the Primary and Secondary DNS IP addresses to the above mentioned IP Addresses.
  3. You may need to restart the Router – you are generally advised through on-screen prompts.
  4. I generally suggest that you re-start your computer, and disconnect your devices from the wireless network and then re-connect them.
  5. You should now be able to browse the Internet again, but you should notice that you are now unable to access any of the blocked websites. If you are able to access something that should be blocked then check your DNS numbers again and read the below.
  6. Note that some cellular devices have DNS numbers hard-coded in them – so they won’t use the DNS numbers in the Router when though they are connected to it wirelessly. If this is true with your cellular device then you will need to take additional steps: check out this website if you are working on an Android device, and this website if you are working on an iPhone or iPad.
  7. You’ll need to consider that cellular devices will revert the DNS numbers back to the Cellular network when the device is disconnected from the wireless network. Ensure that your cellular device is connected to your wireless network.

With that – you should be finished! Happy surfing!