[guessmyname]

Speaking of NSFW stuff in Keybase…

Since the end of January 2019 I’ve started to notice more and more profiles with suggestive pictures of underage humans and anime characters. I almost never log into my Keybase account, but frequently check my profile to see “friend” recommendations, then I log in and follow people who I think are interesting, mostly tech influencers. But since January-February I randomly get recommendations that include one of these NSFW accounts, which is quite unsettling because other people may think my account is somehow involved with them. One day I clicked around and found that many of these accounts follow each other in a circle that composes around 20-30 profiles. Knowing that Keybase offers encryption as one of its main features, I wouldn’t be surprised if pedophiles are already using the service to share offensive content among them.

Edit: I reported 42 accounts a few weeks ago, but not knowing what these profiles were doing, I just asked them to check. The Privacy Team at Keybase started an investigation the day after. Today, none of these accounts exist anymore, I’m not sure if that was really a pedophile network or not, but I’m glad Keybase did something about it.

[freedomben]

Yep, this is the latest incarnation of the evergreen philosophical problem regarding technology: capabilities can be used for good or evil, depending on the designs of the empowered. One of the main arguments that governments use these days (such as the FBI re: smartphone security/crypto) against allowing "common man" to use crypto is that criminals can use it for sex slavery and other crimes. This is a good argument since the vast majority of us find sex slavery and child porn abhorrent, as well as terrorism, etc. We are likely to give up our own rights and capabilities in the name of stopping such a grotesque practice and to protect others.

That said, I'm getting to a place personally where I think we will have no choice but to either accept the absence of privacy/security, or accept that bad people will be empowered for evil just like we are empowered for good. I hope I'm wrong tho, and we can figure out a way to prevent evil use while permitting (and encouraging) righteous use.

Note: I use the words evil and righteous for illustrative purposes, not for religious reference.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

I love how the answer to the problem isn't solving the problem. It's to strip everyone of their privacy, instead.

[bdcravens]

I think pretty much any network with social potential will be used for porn spam eventually. (for example, I've noticed a bunch of Google Hangouts groups I've been added to for that purpose)

[awakeasleep]

I don't think this is a valid dismissal.

First, you're conflating child porn with regular porn.

Second, certain services are more often used by serious deviants, and it's a huge reputational, moral, and legal risk. If you're running a business, or a user of that service, you can't afford to bury your head in the sand.

[bdcravens]

My apologies if you read my message as a dismissal; I wasn't trying to communicate that message. My point was that all social networks are targeted for abuse (if you don't see it on your favorite network, it's because that network probably puts a lot of time and effort and money into fighting it, not because they aren't being targeted)

[mirimir]

I couldn't care less about NSFW stuff, because I work at home. But I do get the concern.

What I don't get is the whole "Consider following" thing. But then, I don't use Keybase as social media, per se.

About the suspected pedophile network, you'd think that they'd be more discreet.