Join us for tea and coffee while you check in! 

Join the opening session for remarks from TSPA and a special Keynote.

Enjoy a longer break to network, refill your water bottles, and make sure you remembered to turn on your out of office! 

This presentation critiques the global adoption of the dominant European-based concept of Data Privacy and its suitability for various cultural contexts. While the GDPR has established stringent global data privacy standards and inspired many countries to adopt similar measures, standardising its Western-centric model, emphasising individualism and personal autonomy, may not be ideal for non-Western, collectivist cultures.

This talk examines whether the Western concept of data privacy aligns with these collectivist values and explores alternative approaches that might better fit diverse cultural contexts. Drawing on studies from the University of Leeds and the University of Hong Kong, as well as practical insights from studies on self-disclosure at Twitter and user consent practices at Canva, it argues that non-Western cultures often view privacy through a communal lens, prioritising group harmony over individual control. Based on those insights, it ventures that more culturally-sensitive privacy models may incorporate broader transparency requirements and restorative approaches, over punitive measures and over-emphasis on individual control.

The presentation advocates for culturally sensitive data privacy practices that integrate global standards with local values. By emphasising shared responsibility and restoring community harmony over a punitive approach, it proposes a more inclusive manner of protecting personal information that aligns with both cultural norms and global expectations.

The research study explored how children and young people (up to 24 years of age) use generative AI and understand its benefits and risks for children and young people in Nepal. It also identified existing legal and policy frameworks and gaps in Nepal related to generative AI and the protection of children. Further, it developed a set of actionable recommendations for duty-bearers on creating a protective environment for children in the digital age, particularly from the malicious use of generative AI.

The study used a mixed methodology to collect primary and secondary data, incorporating the methods of 8 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), 2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), online surveys for 631 respondents and a systematic desktop review of the literature.

The findings indicated that 68% of the respondents were aware of Generative AI, and the most popular platform used was ChatGPT, mainly for educational and entertainment purposes. The major negative impacts identified by the study include cyberbullying, privacy and ethical concerns, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OSEA), biased content, misinformation/ disinformation, and implications for cognitive development, creativity and critical thinking skills; the latter being considered one of the significant risks of generative AI to children and young people.

The research uncovered a significant need for digital advocacy and awareness among users about the potential dangers of misusing generative AI tools. Parents, teachers, and guardians lack awareness and education regarding protecting their children online using such tools. There is also a lack of space for such conversations between children and adults at home and school, increasing the vulnerability to risk. Such situations further contribute to the risks and make children and young people even more prone to the negative impacts of generative AI tools. The study concluded that to address these challenges, stakeholders—including the government, tech companies, educators, parents, and children themselves—must work together to ensure that children can safely navigate the digital world. This can be achieved through a combination of education, regulation, and technological solutions.

This presentation will evaluate current methods employed to combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. It will highlight the limitations of these methods and propose alternative strategies that may offer more effective solutions. The session aims to shift the perspective towards understanding offender patterns, societal influences, and the importance of safety-by-design in creating a safer online environment for children.

Current Methods and Their Limitations

• Focus on investment in detection tools
  • Detection is not prevention; it addresses symptoms rather than causes.
  • Evidence from NCMEC and Law Enforces continues to show growing volume of content and increasing burden on the entire notice and takedown infrastructure from content moderators to law enforcement agencies to social services that provide support to victims and survivors of OCSEA. The situation is particularly dire in the regions like APAC with long-term shortage of resources.
  • Tools designed to preempt distribution (e.g., prompts) are important but do not resolve underlying issues
• "Technical solutions": Parental Controls and Age Verification
  • Evidence demonstrates that parental controls have limited efficacy and can restrict older teens' digital rights (e.g. their ability to express their political view if they do not align with that of their parents or gender identity that may not be accepted). Age verification requires robust legal provisions and digital literacy among parents.
• Safety Education:
  • Online safety eduction in APAC tends to be inconsistent, focus on 'abstinence' and to be ineffective.
  • "Abstinence" narratives ("do not share nude") have been show to not resonate with older teens and become irrelevant with the rise of 'nudifyng' AI tools.

Alternative Methods that Show Promise

• Understanding patterns of offending (based on research) and responding accordingly
  • Recognise that offenders are often known to the child, with many beginning offending behaviour before age 18.
  • Early intervention can be effective in preventing escalation of harmful sexual behaviours.
• Create societal change
  • Address the broader context of violence against women and girls
  • Provide nuanced support for male victims to combat stigma and machismo culture
• Safety-by-Design
  • Integrate safety features into the design of social media platforms from the outset.

In the northeastern province of Manipur, India, with a population of 3 million and 33 recognized tribes, an ongoing conflict between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki and Naga tribes has resulted in the loss of over 221 lives and unspeakable acts of physical violence, including widespread arson, vandalism, large-scale rioting, murders, lynchings and instances of mass rape, notably the filmed assault of two Kuki women by a Meitei mob that shocked the nation and brought global attention to the crisis.

At the heart of this tragedy lies the insidious influence of digital misinformation, which has fueled tensions and catalyzed real-world harm. This presentation will delve into the devastating impact of false narratives and fabricated stories that have circulated online ultimately leading to numerous incidents of violence, displacement, and human rights violations. Through this examination, we will shed light on the urgent need for inclusive and representative trust and safety practices within online platforms and content moderation teams including diverse representation, local context awareness, multilingual moderation and adaptive policies. In this presentation, I will provide a comprehensive timeline illustrating the spread of misinformation during the Manipur crisis and its tangible real-world impacts. I'll explain how misinformation proliferated and why it proved challenging to control, highlighting key factors such as language barriers in content moderation, the complexity of fact-checking in a violence-stricken region, and challenges posed by internet shutdowns. Drawing from this case study, I'll outline broadly applicable lessons and strategies, including the need for proactive trend monitoring in potentially volatile regions, the importance of including regional experts in platform policy and strategy teams, and conducting thorough risk assessments for diverse global contexts. By connecting these specific experiences to wider industry challenges, I aim to offer insights and actionable approaches that can be adapted across various platforms and regions to improve trust and safety practices globally.

Head to the next session!

India is witnessing a surge in sextortion attacks, exacerbated by the rapidly evolving digital landscape and booming social media platforms. With over 500 cases reported daily in 2022 and cyber fraud losses amounting to 17.6 billion in the first four months of 2024, the problem has become industrial in scale. Despite these alarming figures, India still lacks comprehensive data to develop robust frameworks and strategies to combat this crime effectively.

This session, "Sextortion and Beyond: Enhancing Trust & Safety through Innovation and Regulation in APAC," will explore how the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has intensified these threats, making them more pervasive and convincing. We will delve into the sophisticated tactics employed by cybercriminals and the failure of existing threat detection systems to mitigate these attacks.

Victims of sextortion often find themselves without adequate help and resources, relying on social media platforms that only offer limited support. Addressing this crime requires a multi-faceted approach involving various channels and ensuring comprehensive content removal. Social media platforms must adopt zero-tolerance policies and bolster their trust and safety teams.

Our discussion will focus on proactive strategies, including fortifiable technical solutions, comprehensive executive protection programs, and essential cyber hygiene practices. We will also emphasize the need for research, technological solutions, legal reforms, and localized responses to create a resilient digital environment. By examining regulatory frameworks and showcasing successful case studies, we aim to provide a holistic view of how innovation and regulation can enhance trust and safety, protect vulnerable populations, and combat these evolving threats. This session will also present key findings from our recent survey on sextortion awareness in India, highlighting the gaps in public knowledge and the challenges victims face in accessing support. The survey data will underscore the urgent need for targeted awareness drives and stronger reporting mechanisms. These insights will inform our discussion on crafting more effective, data-driven strategies to tackle sextortion and related cybercrime.

As Large Language Models (LLMs) become increasingly sophisticated, adversaries are finding new ways to exploit them for harmful content creation and distribution. However, the contrary is also true i.e. LLM are enablers for guardians of the internet in fighting abuse creatively, efficiently and effectively at scale.

This paper presents a case study of successful end to end deployment of "LLM as a Rater" within Google Discover's content moderation ecosystem with $xM annual savings.

We outline the significant challenges faced in existing content review within Google Discover, including high incoming volumes, long tailed languages, dynamically changing narratives, and operational bottlenecks. To tackle these issues, we deployed an LLM as a Rater solution. This model automatically annotates and dequeue URLs (30%+) with safe labels, significantly reducing the volume of content requiring human review (30% jump observed in reviewed volumes). LLMs offer scalability, ease of setup, and the ability to understand complex, nuanced narratives, however, challenges still persist.

LLMs can occasionally hallucinate thus requiring human-in-the-loop oversight to ensure accuracy. Initial deployment necessitates specialized resources and investment. This case study demonstrates the potential of LLMs to revolutionize content moderation. We believe this approach can be broadly applied across industries to effectively address user feedback, trust workflows, optimize resource allocation (currently content moderation is valued around 10B USD with expected growth of 9.6%) and improve user experiences on digital platforms.

The term glocalization is often used when considering wellbeing intervention design in the global majority world, including the APAC region. This presentation will begin by exploring how a euro-centric model of psychological health poses a challenge to working in APAC regions then move to sharing a case study of how we have tailored interventions for APAC groups. Finally, we will provide actionable takeaways including a) wellbeing strategies that can be immediately implemented with your teams as a tactical solution and b) strategic considerations for decision-makers seeking to find a wellbeing partner/vendor that understands local context and nuance. All of this will be explored through the presenter's own lived experience as a member of the APAC community and from working directly with moderation teams from APAC backgrounds.

This will be a presentation on how we build effective partnerships with local civil society organisations to address harmful online content, particularly in high-risk environments and on issues that require nuanced understanding of the local context. In a world of AI and machine learning, the presentation will focus on how we continue to incorporate the 'human' aspect into policy development and content moderation through civil society partnerships, and how we ensure that we continue to bring local context to our global Trust & Safety policies and processes. Meta's Trusted Partner Program brings together over 400 civil society organisations across 113 countries to address harmful content on Meta's platforms and better understand the context of the diverse communities in which we operate around the globe.

Head to the next session!

This panel will advance the discussion on best practices for moderating gaming environments and delve into the effective creation and operationalization of content moderation policies in games. It will explore the latest research, with a focus on APAC, on user trends in gaming to discuss new ways that bad actors are trying to circumvent policies, the challenges posed in gaming environments from AI-generated harms, and how the evolution of communication (e.g. voice vs chat) on gaming platforms necessitates new moderation tactics. 

As the scale and speed of online harms grows, online safety regulators and industry players need to find collaborative solutions to effectively address these risks. At the same time, online safety regulations are relatively new, presenting a unique opportunity for regulators and industry to co-discover and discuss new approaches to shared problems. Challenges which are unique to the APAC region further reflect the importance of broadening the conversation around online safety, which to date has been primarily driven by the West.

This panel will bring together regulator(s) and key industry stakeholders for online safety to discuss how the regulator-industry relationship can improve online safety and overcome unique collective challenges in the APAC region. Panellists will present different perspectives and approaches to navigating online safety, taking into account APAC’s local culture, language and risks. Panellists will also have the opportunity to share success stories and practical insights from private-public partnerships.

The Trust & Safety center of excellence in APAC is becoming increasingly relevant due to the region's rapid technological growth, diverse digital landscape, and the growing need for robust online safety measures. This diverse panel will discuss & elevate the key aspects, reasoning, strategic benefits & implementation steps for this concept.

The workshop aims to equip professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to foster effective mentorship within the rapidly evolving landscape of trust and safety. As the industry increasingly faces challenges related to security, content moderation, and user protection, this workshop emphasizes the importance of mentorship in cultivating a resilient and informed workforce. Participants will explore best practices in mentoring, focusing on developing critical thinking, empathy, and ethical decision-making. Through interactive sessions, case studies, and collaborative discussions, attendees will learn to navigate complex scenarios, provide constructive feedback, and support the professional growth of others. The workshop also highlights the role of mentorship in promoting diversity and inclusion, ensuring that diverse perspectives are represented and valued in trust and safety initiatives. By the end of the workshop, participants will be prepared to build and sustain effective mentoring relationships that enhance both personal and organizational success in the trust and safety domain.

Grab food and meet someone new!

APAC is leading the race of Internet governance in all spheres including media, cloud computing and AI. Ranging from light touch to comprehensive regulation and licensing, APAC’s regulatory space has grown in varied directions as a response to the unique circumstances, cultural sensitivities and local ecosystems in the region. In this panel we will hone in on online safety regulation and analyze if there are common themes or challenges that can be discerned from emerging approaches to online safety regulation in Singapore, Australia, India, and other APAC jurisdictions? This panel will INCLUDE experts from industry, NGO and government.

While Trust & Safety (T&S) concerns are global, the discourse and decision-making authority remain disproportionately concentrated in the US or Western Europe. This imbalance risks perpetuating inequities and entrenching power differentials within this emerging profession. This panel will highlight the unique challenges faced by Asia-Pacific (APAC) T&S community members, who often shoulder an unequal burden of navigating time zones, advocating for their region and financial overhead to effectively participate in the global community. Conceptualized and moderated by the Trust & Safety Foundation’s Global Majority Research Committee, this discussion will delve into strategies for cultivating energy competence and empowerment among individual T&S practitioners, across industry and civil society. Additionally, it will explore how leaders in this region have innovated practices to address these systemic challenges.

Asia-Pacific is a highly diverse region with a wide range of cultures, economic conditions, and levels of development in the wellbeing space, making it a challenge to gather standardized psychological health data. Cultural attitudes towards privacy and the reporting of personal or sensitive information can vary significantly, affecting the availability and reliability of wellbeing data. In many countries, research on this topic is limited and the validated tools required to assess health and safety come from a westernized perspective.

In order to address these challenges, a diverse group of research psychologists working in Trust & Safety will:

1. Discuss the need for culture-specific research to effectively address T&S concerns in APAC countries.
2. Discuss what’s missing when it comes to psychological health and safety data in the region.
3. Describe how the level of organizational support can influence the extent and quality of data collected.
4. Discuss the use of collaboration as momentum to develop research on this subject in the region.

Learn and share practical steps for building effective Trust & Safety (T&S) teams and leadership roles within APAC. Participants will gain insights into talent acquisition tradeoffs, leadership development programs, and the creation of cross-functional teams. The session will feature case studies highlighting the impact of culturally sensitive practices and local expertise on global T&S initiatives.

Key Takeaways:

• Recruitment Strategies: Techniques for attracting and retaining top T&S talent specific to APAC markets, given the tradeoffs of our current global talent landscape
• Leadership Development: Programs designed to cultivate leadership skills and promote career growth within T&S roles
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Building teams that effectively bridge cultural and functional divides
• Case Studies: Examples of successful T&S initiatives in APAC, showcasing the importance of regional expertise and cultural sensitivity
• Continuous Improvement: Strategies for maintaining a culture of innovation and adaptability in T&S practices

Head to the next session! (Unless you are in the Round Table session)

This diverse panel of Wellbeing experts, hosted by the TSPA Wellbeing circle,  will explore the importance of tailoring overall Wellness approaches to local needs, discuss how to design and implement wellness programs that are sensitive to diverse cultural contexts within the APAC region and provide insightful and actionable takeaways.

Criminal groups operate globally and across platforms, their behaviours exhibiting violence, abuse and evasion of financial controls. It’s clear that, in the words of Coolio, they are chasing the “power and the money, money and the power, minute after minute, hour after hour.” The real-world harm their presence poses on-platform includes incitement and recruitment, and glorification remains a concern too. Yet, when we see discussions about the power of platform policy designations – including in the news media - the focus tends to be on violent extremist groups, in isolation. Drawing on case studies from different markets across APAC, this panel discussion will address questions ranging from: how do we prioritise criminal organisation designations? What does good practice engagement look like in communicating our decisions with critical stakeholders? How should we communicate the work TnS professionals do in this area, to our users and to the public? We welcome engagement, thoughts and questions on this topic which touches on core harms of concern to TnS practitioners in APAC and everywhere.

On a daily basis, trust & safety teams maintain platform integrity, just as non-profits tackle on-the-ground exploitations and academics pursue innovative research. Niche expertise and disjointed efforts by distinct groups cannot adequately craft safety in an increasingly seamless world. Cross-sectoral solutions are a need of the hour, not merely an adjunct, to truly mitigate the tangible consequences of complex harms (e.g., disinformation, synthetic content, algorithmic biases). Such synergy deepens platform trust and retention while bolstering civil society and non-profit impact. This panel will explore the opportunities and barriers for routinizing cross-sectoral exchange specifically in areas of child safety, health information, and social technology. Panelists will share pointers and approaches for consistently synchronizing information sharing, technical and analytical expertise, capacity building, reporting mechanisms, and outreach programs across spheres focused. The discussion will offer realistic recommendations to sew collaborative practices bridging knowledge generation, community service, and safety work.

Take a moment to step outside for some fresh air, connect with other attendees, or retreat to a quiet corner for some recharge time. Note: Double check the start time of your next session!

The past year has seen momentous elections in APAC that share common themes but are also distinct in possessing unique, market specific contexts. This presentation will illuminate how these have shaped risks and opportunities in each market, and how election integrity strategies at Google have had to adapt and localise accordingly. From helping voters, to developing partnerships, and combating abuse, APAC's markets encourage and in fact, demand diversity in approaches.

With APAC catalysing the development of a varied election toolkit, the region stands at the forefront of learnings that can be applied and adapted to other regions, to drive more comprehensive ways of risk mitigation and opportunity capture globally for big tech.

This presentation addresses the critical issue of synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generation, with a specific focus on its escalation in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily driven by activities in Japan. Our independent research, which involved the analysis of over 1,000 global instances of synthetic CSAM, revealed that more than 90% of these cases originated from Japan. This significant data point underscores Japan's disproportionate role in fueling the international synthetic CSAM marketplace. The session will also examine the legal loopholes that currently exist in Japan, which allow such activities to thrive unchecked, and discuss the broader implications for global digital safety and child protection.

This session will offer a first and rare glimpse into the clandestine online spaces where the marketplace for synthetic CSAM thrives, detailing the unique identifiers of this ecosystem. Additionally, we will address the challenges that Trust & Safety professionals face in identifying and mitigating synthetic CSAM, and propose strategies for international cooperation and policy reform to effectively combat this growing threat. All together, this session aims to equip Trust and Safety teams with essential tools to identify and combat this rapidly growing threat, while also emphasizing the need for heightened collaboration to tackle the challenges presented by this emergent form of digital exploitation.

This presentation will provide an overview of how cultural contexts influence trust and safety efforts in the APAC region, with a focus on indigenous perspectives from New Zealand and the Pacific realm countries, Samoa and Vanuatu. By exploring the diversity of languages, cultures, and social contexts, we aim to offer insights and strategies for one way in which Netsafe, New Zealand's 25 year old online safety charity is looking to build bridges and create partnerships across the Pacific and Oceania region to address online safety challenges in this unique and dynamic region.

• Section 1: Online Safety in New Zealand
  • Netsafe Overview
  • Brief introduction to Netsafe and its mission.
  • Highlight key initiatives and achievements in promoting online safety in New Zealand.
• Section 2: Indigenous Perspectives on Online Safety
  • Māori Perspectives
  • The importance of incorporating indigenous perspectives in online safety.
  • Insights from Brent as a member of Te Ati Awa iwi on the unique online safety challenges faced by Māori communities.
  • Strategies for culturally sensitive online safety education and support.
• Section 3: Case Study: Supporting the Pacific with a focus on New Zealand's Realm Countries, Samoa and Vanuatu
  • Overview of the Project
  • Introduction to the New Zealand government-funded project aimed at supporting Tokelau, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Vanuatu.
  • Objectives and scope of the project.
  • Literature Review Findings
  • Summary of key findings from the literature review on online safety in Pacific realm countries.
  • Identified challenges and opportunities in these regions.
  • Netsafe's Pacific Fellows Programme
  • Description of the Pacific Fellows Programme.
  • Role of Pacific fellows in promoting online safety.
  • Success stories and impact of the programme.
  • Building a Pacific Online Safety Website
  • The ongoing work to develop a dedicated Pacific online safety website.
  • Collaboration with Pacific fellows for translating Netsafe's education and resources.
  • Features and benefits of the new website.
• Section 4: Conclusion
  • Summary of Key Points
  • Recap of the importance of integrating indigenous and cultural perspectives in online safety.
  • Highlight the success and future plans of Netsafe's initiatives in New Zealand and the Pacific realm countries, Samoa and Vanuatu.
  • Q&A Session
  • Open the floor for questions and discussion.
  • Encourage sharing of insights and experiences from the audience.

Head to the next session! (Unless you are in the Workshop session)

This panel session focuses on the pressing issue of disinformation and false narratives during elections, a time when the spread of made-up news and information poses significant risks to democratic processes. The session will explore why fabricated news is particularly problematic during elections, how individuals consume such information, and the role generative AI plays in exacerbating these issues. Emphasis will be placed on the methods used by bad actors to spread disinformation during election periods and the strategies employed by Trust & Safety teams to counteract these threats. By bringing together experts from social media platforms, policy research, academia, NGOs, and fact-checking solution providers, the panel will offer a comprehensive view of the challenges and propose actionable solutions. Special attention will be given to the cultural and contextual nuances in the APAC region, highlighting the unique challenges faced in this diverse area.

A closer look at the countries within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) shows an increase of 125,000 new Internet users daily, consisting of potential users, consumers, victims, and/or bad actors.

This rapid growth in Internet adoption highlights some important questions: How do approaches to online safety diverge and converge across the ASEAN region where regional cooperation is at its best? Could there be a role for standards and industry codes in advancing a more harmonized approach across the region?

This session will consider the policy and regulatory practicalities of developing and implementing a regional shared responsibility approach to online safety, reflecting on the approaches to online safety in the region, and the potential role of ASEAN as both a leader and a testbed for tech regulation. The dialogue will include lessons learned from the region, and the opportunities and challenges in developing a harmonized regulatory approach in Internet governance, specifically in areas directly affecting Trust and Safety practitioners.

Trust & safety is manifested through a global value chain framework as policy and leadership predominantly emanate in the advanced first world and operations are implemented offshore such as in APAC. Efforts to decentralize this dynamic have either been myopic or counterintuitive. These deficiencies stem from a general preoccupation with mere demographics rather than complex identities and experiences, cursory empowerment initiatives that seldom look beyond hiring diversity, and advocacy for nominal powers for the emerging global south. There is a need to deliberate on the repercussions–how this impacts the overall trust & safety domain in terms of workforce retention, work culture homogenization, and in turn subpar offerings to the global market and society. The panel members working in different-sized multinational organizations will discuss their experiences and the need to collectively alleviate these circumstances through actionable strategies that will enable the equitable involvement of local practitioners in shaping a more representative trust & safety ecosystem.

Close out the day with wrap up remarks from the TSPA Team.

Join us for post-event refreshments, bites, and networking!