Big Sister Detects All Dangers

Being groomed to partake in sexual acts online or offline. This includes detection of grooming patterns and the abuse itself. Peer on peer abuse, prostitution and self-generated content is included in this danger category. AI generated child sexual abuse is also detected.

Seeing, producing or sending explicit/adult themed messages, photographs and videos. This includes pornography, cyber-flashing and sexting.

Extortion is the practice of obtaining something, typically money, through force, threats, or coercion. When this involves sexts this can be called “Sextortion”. This category includes warnings such as a child oversharing online and facing financial pressures which can make a child vulnerable to exploitation. It includes detecting age inappropriate payment methods.

Bullying is deliberate and repeated harassment, threat, embarrassment, or targeting of another person. The online bullying category detects perpetrators or victims and identifies various forms of online bullying including ostracisation, hate speech and discrimination.

A child can be radicalised into increasingly extreme groups, eventually becoming violent and partaking in other illegal behaviours. Within this category, vulnerabilities and patterns which might indicate grooming into these extreme groups are detected. Consuming extreme content in various forms from misogynistic, racist, radicalisation, fundamentalism, conspiracy theories and more. Detecting language that glorifies violence, and that indicates isolation and anger is also included.

Detection of all-age illegal activities including drugs, gangs, county lines, weapons and violent hate speech. This category also includes illegal activities by age for example gambling which is legal for over 18s but illegal for under 18s.

Unhealthy behaviours like excessive time online or gaming, discussing fasting or dieting and lack of sleep are included. Also detecting vulnerabilities to depression and anxiety, consuming self harm and suicide content and eating disorder content.

Grooming is the process of manipulation which can lead to a person being exposed to the online dangers in the other categories. Big Sister identifies the typical stages a groomer conducts across all platforms. Being groomed is a danger in itself as the coercive patterns of messages can cause damage.