Please note this episode covers some difficult topics, specifically the issue around child sexual abuse, which some listeners may find distressing. Listener discretion is advised.
In this episode of the Cambridge Tech Podcast, hosts Faye Holland and James Parton speak with Emma Hardy, Communications Director at the Internet Watch Foundation, about the fast-moving fight to prevent child sexual abuse online.
Emma brings a clear message for founders, investors and product leaders: safety cannot be an afterthought. From generative AI to user generated content, every new capability can create opportunities for harm as well as value. The strongest companies consider both from day one.
The Internet Watch Foundation, or IWF, is a UK charity that identifies and works to remove online child sexual abuse imagery. Its teams combine specialist human judgement with technical tools, intelligence and partnerships across industry, government, law enforcement and academia. Emma explains how digital fingerprints, known as hashes, can help prevent previously identified imagery from being uploaded again on participating platforms.
“Build it safe from the start. Don’t try and retrofit safety.”
For startups and tech companies, the practical takeaway is simple: build safety into the product, the business model and the operating culture. Emma encourages teams to examine how an idea could be misused before it reaches scale, rather than attempting to retrofit protections after harm has occurred. The IWF can support organisations, particularly those handling user generated content, with expertise and services designed to make platforms safer.
This is an essential listen for anyone building, backing or governing technology.
Subscribe to the Cambridge Tech Podcast for candid conversations with the people shaping safer, smarter innovation across the UK tech ecosystem.
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Produced by Cambridge TV
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