Note: the "agent" the title refers to has nothing to do with an AI/LLM agent. Originally I thought this had something to do with an AI agent, as if someone put an AI agent in charge of identifying dark web pictures for clues. It's a good story nevertheless and I'm glad the victim was rescued, but nothing to do with AI/LLMs.
Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
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Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#12Was this guy law enforcement? How did he get the addresses of everyone who had bought that model of couch?
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#13Related: A researcher for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, warned executives at the tech giant that there may be upward of 500,000 cases of sexual exploitation of minors per day on the social media platforms. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/meta-researcher-warned... Who needs the dark web when Meta exists and is protected by the US government? Edit: downvotes? Lol
I always need to contextualize these numbers:
- there are 2.4B under 18 globally
- which means 500k is 0.02% of all children
- or around 1 in 5000 children globally, per day
- if evenly distributed (which is unlikely), then roughly 7-8% of all kids would feature in Meta exploitation yearly
That suggests very high reoccurrence; but even reoccurrence suggests the total rate remains quite high. A reoccurrence rate of 100x would suggest that roughly 1 in 1000 kids is exploited on Meta, yearly.
Anyway, disturbing.
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#14Strange to think that right now, the people doing that work are not getting paid for it.
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#15> They contacted Facebook, which at the time dominated the social media landscape, asking for help scouring uploaded family photos - to see if Lucy was in any of them. But Facebook, despite having facial recognition technology, said it "did not have the tools" to help. Willing to bet my life savings that they are able to do exactly this when the goal is to create shadow profiles or maximize some metric.
Facial recognition is very powerful these days. My friend took a photo of his kid at the top of Twin Peaks in SF, with the city in the background. Unfortunately, due to the angle, you could barely see the eyes and a portion of the nose of the kid. Android was still able to tag the kid.
I feel like Facebook really dropped the ball here. It is obvious that Squire and colleagues are working for the Law Enforcement. If FB was concerned about privacy, they could have asked them to get a judicial warrant to perform a broad search.
But they didn't. And Lucy continued to be abused for months after that.
I hope when Zuck is lying on his death bed, he gets to think about these choices that he has made.
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you ever dealt with a pedophile? I ask that incidentally, neutrally, in the sense of, have you ever dealt with a flat tire or mold in the attic.
No, but note that my comment didn't mention pedophiles. Someone being a convicted sex offender should already be a big enough red flag that any parent with a working brain shouldn't ever let that person anywhere near their kids.
Then have you ever dealt with a convicted sex offender, same question.
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#17Related: A researcher for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, warned executives at the tech giant that there may be upward of 500,000 cases of sexual exploitation of minors per day on the social media platforms. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/meta-researcher-warned... Who needs the dark web when Meta exists and is protected by the US government? Edit: downvotes? Lol
See also: the 17-strike policy for sex trafficking.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2025/11/22/meta-strike-po...
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#18Was this guy law enforcement? How did he get the addresses of everyone who had bought that model of couch?
From the article: "Squire works for US Department of Homeland Security Investigations in an elite unit ..."
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#19Was this guy law enforcement? How did he get the addresses of everyone who had bought that model of couch?
FTA:
> Squire works for US Department of Homeland Security Investigations in an elite unit which attempts to identify children appearing in sexual abuse material.
Re: Dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from abuse
#20I’ve spent just a teeny bit of time helping international ICE investigators (not that one; internet child exploitation) postpone PTSD with technology. It seems like after two years of their job, they’re going to have a mental break. So postponing is all you can really do.
It’s disheartening how underfunded these agencies are compared to, what feels like at least, the severity of the crimes they’re up against.
These folks are heroes. This is one place AI has a lot of potential (but very little commercial value).