New online safety app ‘could lower demand for child sexual abuse content’

The experts behind the project say the app could be installed onto the devices of individuals at risk of accessing child abuse content, automatically detecting and blocking it, which they say would help stem the demand for such content online.

The app could be installed on the devices of individuals at risk of accessing child abuse content, experts said (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

A new online safety app that could help reduce the viewing and demand for child sexual abuse content is to be developed by EU and UK experts.

Project Protech will launch in March to create an app called Salus – named after the Roman goddess of safety and well-being – which is capable of detecting child sexual abuse content in real time on the user’s device by using machine learning.