Across three days of panels, workshops, and interactive sessions, Tech Coalition leadership, staff, and member companies came together to address the urgent and evolving threat of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA).
From signal-sharing to safety-by-design, our conversations centered on how cross-industry collaboration can accelerate progress in protecting children online.
Day 1: spotlight on financial sextortion and emerging threats
As part of the Child Safety Track, the Tech Coalition moderated the session ‘Combating Financial Sextortion of Minors: Industry Strategies for Prevention and Response’, featuring experts from Meta, PayPal, Snap, and TikTok.
Together, they shared insights on how companies can detect and respond to cases of financial sextortion, the use of signal sharing in combating cross-platform abuse, and how collaboration can enable progress toward improved response across industry.
Later during the day, Kay Chau, our VP of Programs and Member Success, provided opening remarks for the workshop ‘Unmasking AI Nudification: A Trust & Safety Challenge’. Kay framed the discussion by highlighting our research and member-led workstreams focused on understanding and responding to undressing apps and AI-generated OCSEA content.
Day 2: sector-specific strategies and practical tools
Day two kicked off with a panel on how gaming companies are addressing online child sexual exploitation, moderated by Kay Chau and featuring speakers from Sony, Roblox, and Meta.
The conversation covered how gaming companies are collaborating to develop a sector-specific roadmap with the Tech Coalition and share signals through Lantern to address cross-platform abuse.
Simultaneously, Katia Potapov, VP of Membership Development, led a session on building an effective child safety program. She outlined key steps companies can take to establish strong trust and safety foundations, and how the Pathways program supports companies in strengthening their internal capabilities to combat OCSEA.
Next, we co-presented with Block on the recently completed pilot to integrate financial institutions into our flagship program Lantern.
The session highlighted how Lantern enables cross-sector collaboration, particularly between tech and financial services companies, to detect and disrupt financially motivated OCSEA.
In our last event of the day, our President and CEO, Sean Litton, moderated a panel on generative AI and child safety.
Panelists from Patreon, Anthropic, and Cantina discussed how platforms detect, prevent, and remove AI-generated child sexual abuse content.
Day 3: reflecting on moments of impact
On the final day of TrustCon, Sean hosted a plenary session joined by leaders from Discord, Zoom, and Microsoft. Together, they reflected on their career journeys in trust and safety, major moments and decisions along the way, and what keeps them motivated.
TC Connect: an industry-only space for collaboration
Running alongside the final day of TrustCon, TC Connect brought together Tech Coalition members for a full day of confidential, industry-only collaboration.
Over 200 participants joined interactive sessions across three tracks:
- Detection and tooling,
- Strategy and cross-functional buy-in, and
- Operations and implementation.
Discussions ranged from red teaming and takedown process design to online enticement, child sex trafficking, and the practical use of detection tools already in market.
We are grateful to all our members who showed up with openness and a willingness to share their experiences, challenges, and solutions. No single company can tackle this issue alone, and events like TC Connect are a reminder of the power of community, shared learning, and aligned action.
Looking ahead
The conversations at TrustCon and TC Connect affirmed what we see every day: that the fight against OCSEA requires constant adaptation, bold collaboration, and long-term commitment. We are proud to be building a space where companies can work together, not only to respond to threats, but to anticipate and prevent them.
To our members: thank you for being part of this work.
And to those just joining us or considering membership: we invite you to learn more, get involved, and join this growing movement to protect children worldwide from online abuse.
