Safe Online invests an additional $10 million to combat digital harms

Meet the new grantees

To combat the growing threats in the digital space, Safe Online launched a global call for proposals in 2023. After a rigorous and thorough selection process, 23 grantees have been selected to receive USD 10 million. The new investment grows Safe Online’s investment portfolio to USD 100 million across 106 projects with impact in 100 countries and accelerates Safe Online’s globally important role as a catalyst for new solutions to combat digital harms.  

Read more about the innovative new projects

Capital Humano y Social Alternativo  

Building resilience in the native communities of the Peruvian Amazon: Systemic model for the prevention and care of online CSEA in Loreto region, Peru

Children lead a comprehensive strategy to identify situations of alarm and risk of CSE online in Amazon communities. A systemic model is proposed where the community, private company and local government build a support network that facilitates the identification of cases, reporting, support and timely access to care and protection services. 

Child Helpline International 

Voice Up Africa! Child Helplines Disrupting Online Harms 

Child Helpline International, along with seven African child helplines, enhances capabilities to tackle OCSEA through infrastructure upgrades, training, awareness raising, partnerships, and research. 

ECPAT International 

Promoting participatory-based evidence to protect children on the move and affected by crisis from online sexual abuse and exploitation 

ECPAT International leads a research initiative focused on the digital safety of children on the move and affected by crisis, aiming to understand digital risks and influence safer policies. 

GamerSafer 

DefenderNet: A unified, open source system enhancing safety in third-party server ecosystems 

DefenderNet introduces an open-source reporting system for online games and social platforms with independently managed servers, aiming to centralize harmful conduct reports and empower moderators to enhance player safety. 

Hintalovon Child Rights Foundation – ECPAT Hungary  

Seeing the unseen – Researching online sexual violence against children in V4  

“Seeing the unseen” research aims to support advocacy efforts to prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in V4 countries by providing crucial data and improving mandatory reporting mechanisms. 

International Justice Mission 

Nexus of Sextortion and Online Scams 

Using NCMEC data, IJM will explore the link between online scamming call centers and the financial sextortion of minors, providing recommendations for more effective law enforcement and early tech sector detection to prevent victimization. 

International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI) formerly known as PIER Anglia Ruskin University 

‘Dity online’: Experiences, knowledge and behaviours of Ukrainian children and their parents in relation to the risk of online sexual abuse during the Russian war in Ukraine. 

The ‘Dity Online’ project collaborates between Ukraine and the UK to understand the impact of the Russian war on Ukrainian children’s vulnerability to online sexual abuse and develop educational resources for protection. 

International Center LA STRADA 

Safer Internet Center in Moldova: Structured and coordinated framework of response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation 

Safer Internet Center Moldova is dedicated to addressing ineffective response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation in Moldova, this project strengthens the national response through legal framework enhancement and community empowerment. 

INHOPE         

Global Standard Project 

INHOPE implements the Universal Classification Schema to automate CSAM categorization, train stakeholders on content assessment, and expedite inter-jurisdictional data sharing for swift CSAM removal. 

International Telecommunication Union

A Global Network to Expand the Reach and Effectiveness of Online Safety Education

The project aims to enhance online safety education. Involving stakeholders from the Global South, it will create an extensive & fit-for-purpose resource repository to prevent cyber abuses & threats against children, encouraging them to seek help during attacks & ensuring they feel safe online.

 Kindred Tech 

Cloud-Enhanced Digital Governance and Regulatory Framework (CEDAR) 

The CEDAR Project equips law enforcement agencies and NGOs with cloud-based tools to enhance responses to Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA), addressing technical, legal, and perceptual barriers. 

Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse 

Philippines Adaptation and Dissemination of Responsible Behavior with Younger Children: A Curriculum to Prevent and Address Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Related Forms of Harms. 

Moore Center’s project adapts the Responsible Behavior with Younger Children curriculum for the Philippines, equipping teens and educators to prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Mtoto Newz International Ltd Brand Name – Mtoto News 

It’s A FACT 

It’s A FACT is a participatory action research aiming to understand digital literacy among African children aged 9-17 in Malawi, Kenya, and Mali, informing the Africa Child Online Safety Model Law. 

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 

Innovative Data: Harnessing Machine Learning to Combat & Eradicate Child Sexual Exploitation 

NCMEC’s Innovative Data project will deploy natural language processing and machine learning techniques on the largest dataset of child victimization to uncover critical trends and predictive behavior patterns. This will help accelerate victim recovery, transform global response, and prevent future child sexual exploitation.

Rigr AI 

Morrigan – Pic2Geo. Software tool built with Open Domain Image Locatisation and AI. 

Law enforcement, victim identification specialists, and NGOs collaborate using Morrigan – Pic2Geo to safeguard victims of CSEA by identifying potential locations of images or videos, aiding in successful investigations. 

SEED Foundation 

Preventing and Responding to Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Iraq 

SEED’s program strengthens legal and institutional frameworks in Iraq to address online child sexual exploitation and abuse, equipping government and NGOs to respond effectively and empowering children and caregivers through awareness efforts. 

South West Grid for Learning 

Exploring child friendly reporting platforms for online abuse. 

Utilizing SWGfL’s expertise, this project aims to adapt existing infrastructure into a child-friendly reporting platform for online abuse, empowering children to report harmful content safely and fostering a secure online environment. 

Stanford Internet Observatory 

Law Enforcement and the Online Child Safety Ecosystem 

Researchers will embed with law enforcement to investigate challenges in handling reports of online child sexual exploitation, leading to policy recommendations for improved investigation outcomes. 

UNICEF Senegal 

Strengthening the national protection system to prevent and respond to online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Senegal 

UNICEF Senegal’s project empowers children and communities and strengthens the national child protection system to prevent and respond to online exploitation and abuse in Senegal. 

Tech Matters 

The Power of AI and Data for Understanding Online CSEA 

Aselo empowers helplines with advanced data, visualization, and AI tools to better understand and combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA), making counselors more effective in protecting children. 

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan

Protecting children from online violence, abuse and exploitation in Kazakhstan 

UNICEF Kazakhstan aims to fortify defenses against online child abuse by empowering communities, parents, and children, creating a safer digital world for all.

UNICEF HQ – Child Protection Programme Team

Child-centred multidisciplinary services for victims and survivors – models of good practice for the digital age 

Models of Good Practice for the Digital Age project aims to understand and improve child-centred multidisciplinary services for victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation in low- to upper-middle-income countries, with a focus on digital aspects of abuse.

World Vision Brazil

Amplifying children and adolescents’ safety online 

iSmart360 empowers youth to navigate the web safely, countering online exploitation and fostering a community-wide dialogue on digital security. 

Images: Safe Online/Vincent Tremeau

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EPCAT International (Disrupting Harm)

Our grantees ECPAT International (Disrupting Harm) Evidence From 14 Countries on the Context, Threats, and Children’s Perspectives of Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Countries involved:Thailand Disrupting Harm is a large-scale data collection and research project to better understand online child sexual exploitation and abuse across the world. This study

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Swansea University 2

Our grantees Swansea University DRAGON (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online): Stories Strengthened Safeguards Countries involved:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland DRAGONS+ builds on Swansea University’s expertise in anti-grooming technology to pioneer research at the intersection of offender and child interaction. This research considers development of perceived-first-person CSAM and

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International Justice Mission

Our grantees International Justice Mission Ending Online Sexual Exploitation of Children in Cebu Countries involved:The  Philippines International Justice Mission (IJM) has used the Fund’s support to train and mentor law enforcement officials in the Philippines, increasing their ability to prosecute individuals engaging in online child exploitation and abuse. As part of

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Our purpose in detail

We are here to ensure every child and young person grows in to the digital world feeling safe, and is protected from harm.

We support, champion, and invest in innovative partners from the public, private, and third sectors working towards the same objective.

We believe in equipping guardians and young people with the skills to understand and see danger themselves once accessing digital experiences without supervision.

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