Mumsnet - child abuse images used in attack

[BrettMRC]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93qw3lw4kvo

Well that's a new level of sick.

From an attackers perspective, it's a sure way to cause huge disruption - however, the material used means that a lot of resource will hopefully be put into identifying and arresting those responsible.

I hope PH is watching and taking note, because any forum could be victim to this - and now the genie is out of the bottle, it will happen again.

[Mr Pointy]

That's a great compo face in the BBC report.

[MikeM6]

This is very disturbing, why would anyone want to attack a site like Mumsnet, let alone through the use of images of children being abused?

It is a sad indictment of parts of society that just want to do harm to others.

I sincerely hope that those responsible are stopped in their tracks with haste.

[rohrl]

MikeM6 said:

This is very disturbing, why would anyone want to attack a site like Mumsnet, let alone through the use of images of children being abused?

It is a sad indictment of parts of society that just want to do harm to others.

I sincerely hope that those responsible are stopped in their tracks with haste.

“Why Mumsnet?” was my first thought.

One potential reason is that Mumsnet has been home to quite a lot of “gender critical” commenters, the flip side of the “trans rights” lobby. It’s a very divisive and heated debate and often descends into allegations of fascism and child grooming from one side or the other.

[Slow.Patrol]

It can only get worse

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and...

This could be the death of forums, especially small ones who won't have the ability to write a load of risk assessments and policies. Other forums are concerned about using volunteers for moderation.

[MikeM6]

rohrl said:

“Why Mumsnet?” was my first thought.

One potential reason is that Mumsnet has been home to quite a lot of “gender critical” commenters, the flip side of the “trans rights” lobby. It’s a very divisive and heated debate and often descends into allegations of fascism and child grooming from one side or the other.

That is interesting, my first thought was that it was an attack on women more generally, some sort of incel / red pill stuff. You can imagine the weak men, emboldened by the exploitative material online from certain well known figures, who already have access to the material using it to try to harm others.

It's not often that women use sexual abuse as a weapon against other women though, so that is a very interesting angle on things.

[Gareth79]

BrettMRC said:

From an attackers perspective, it's a sure way to cause huge disruption - however, the material used means that a lot of resource will hopefully be put into identifying and arresting those responsible.

Likely the high-profile target will mean that a lot of resources are put into it, rather than the material, which is used relatively often to spam/harass/target forums and groups.

Technically the users and moderators who viewed them are at risk of a prosecution for 'making' the images, despite them being unsolicited and obviously unwanted.

edit: I agree that it's likely to be due to the "GC" opinions expressed on the site, Mumsnet is extremely conservative in general. There's also quite a lot of support for authoritarian laws and other stuff I think, but it's more likely the GC.

Edited by Gareth79 on Tuesday 4th February 18:04

[petemurphy]

I assume every person on mumsnet who has seen the images will be charged with possession and making

[eldar]

petemurphy said:

I assume every person on mumsnet who has seen the images will be charged with possession and making

Theoretically, yes. Realistically I doubt it,as 'not in the public interest.'