EU Commission issues guidance on detecting and reporting CSAM under Digital Services Act

The European Commission has published guidance clarifying how online platforms can continue to detect and report child sexual abuse material under the Digital Services Act while respecting user privacy and the bloc's data-protection framework. The guidance, issued in early November 2024, addresses a period of legal uncertainty following the expiry of temporary measures and confirms that platforms may voluntarily deploy technologies to identify known CSAM, grooming behaviour and the solicitation of material from children, provided these systems are targeted, proportionate and subject to human review. The Commission has emphasised that such measures remain lawful under current rules and has called on providers to act swiftly, noting that delays in detection increase the risk of continued victimisation.

Guardii's CSAM detection module, which identifies both photographic and AI-generated child sexual abuse material, operates in the narrow window between creation or receipt and distribution, flagging high-risk image exchanges in direct messages across platforms including Instagram and Snapchat without retaining or scanning the content of every conversation. Backed by Startmate and built as a Meta Business Partner integration, the system reports the fact and severity of a threat rather than the image itself, enabling rapid referral to the Internet Watch Foundation or national authorities while minimising the privacy burden on all other users. The Commission's guidance confirms the legal space for precisely this model of targeted, intelligence-led intervention.