Rome, Italy, Oct 5, 2017 / 12:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The head of Microsoft’s office for online safety has said the Catholic Church is a key ally in the ongoing effort to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation online.
When asked why a major tech company would partner with the Catholic Church on such an important issue, Jacqueline Beauchere, Chief Online Safety Officer for Microsoft Inc., had a simple response: “why not?”
Beauchere spoke during an Oct. 3-6 conference on Child Dignity in the Digital World, addressing the topic of “How Do Internet Providers and Software Developers Define Their Responsibility and Limits of Cooperation Regarding Safeguarding of Minors.”
Speaking with a small group of journalists at the conference, Beauchere said, “why would you not take advantage of such a huge platform and such a huge array of people to make aware of the situation?”
Beauchere said she is willing to collaborate with “anyone who wants to talk about these issues,” because “we all can learn from one another. And the only way we’re going to get better, the only way we’re going to do and learn more is to really expand the dialogue.”
She also spoke on what future steps and investments technology companies can make in helping to fight online child exploitation, and action-points for the future, including some highlights from a joint-declaration from conference participants that will be presented to Pope Francis in an audience tomorrow.
Beauchere was one of two representatives of major tech organizations present at the conference, the other being Dr. Antigone Davies, Head of Global Safety Policy for Facebook.
Organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection in collaboration with the UK-based global alliance WePROTECT and the organization “Telefono Azzurro,” which is the first Italian helpline for children at risk.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin opened the conference as a keynote speaker. Other participants in the congress include social scientists, civic leaders, and religious representatives. Discussion points include prevention of abuse, pornography, the responsibility of internet providers and the media, and ethical governance.
Please read below for excerpts of Beauchere’s conversation with journalists:
Thank you for your time. It was very interesting to hear what Microsoft is doing to combat this issue. But many speakers that followed you said that more could be done as far as investments and money being put into helping in NGOs that are working to help in this issue, and technologies that can be put into fighting this issue. What is your response? What can be done in the future to address this call to action?
I would say the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement, and we can all do more. We can all do better. We just have to determine what is going to be the best root to direct our resources. So we come at the at the problem from a technology perspective, from an internal governance perspective with policies and standards and procedures, with education and with partnerships. We are already supporting a number of organizations, which I noted in my remarks. We are on the board for the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, I personally sit on the board of the WeProtect organization. I sit on the board of the In Hope organization, I used to sit on the board, now another colleague does, of the Technology Coalition. That’s all technologies coming together to come up with technical solutions, other operational means, to alleviate the problem. So there are many things we are dong, it’s a question of we have so precious few resources – we’re given budgets like every one ounce. We don’t get an unlimited pot of money, so we have to decide where are we going to put our efforts and what is going to deliver the most bang for the buck.
And where do you see this money being used most importantly?
I think efforts like this that really bring together a multitude of stakeholders. As I said, technology companies work together. Sometimes I feel like I work and talk to Twitter and Google and YouTube and Facebook more so in a week than I do with my own colleagues at Microsoft, so we’re always working together. Civil society works together. Academia works together. Government works together. But now we need to bring all of those stakeholders together. WeProtect started that effort, but I could say that there are really only four stakeholder groups there: that would be the technology companies, governments, law enforcement and civil society. But now with this world congress we’re expanding to include the Church and faith-based organizations, to include a broader array of academics, to include the public health sector. Now, with more people it could sometimes present a little bit more conflict, or hiccups or hurdles that we’re going to have to get over, but we’re going to have to find a way that we’re all going to have to agree on certain things, and then build from there.
On a practical level, you’ve spoken about all the boards and committees that you are a part of, and it’s really important to be a part of that conversation, but if you were going to tell me now where you are going to allocate your resources next as the frontier of where to fight this issue, where do you see the challenges and problems? Where should that money be allocated?
It has to be invested in technology. But technology investments don’t pay off immediately, they take time. So a lot of people are asking, ‘can’t you just invent a technology that can determine that that’s a child sexual abuse image, and then it won’t be uploaded from the get-go?’ This is artificial intelligence, this is machine learning, it’s only been in recent years that we’ve been able to identify, via artificial intelligence and via machine learning, that a cat is a cat. So when you put in the complex scenarios of the parade of horribles that could happen to a child, and the different actors that are involved in those scenarios and the different body parts, and the different scenes and places where things could happen as far as these crimes, you’re adding so much more complexity. So there’s a lot of work. These technology investments are not going to pay off immediately. I think people look at technology and they think it’s a silver bullet, they think that technology created these problems, so technology should fix them. Number one, technology didn’t create these problems, and number two, technology alone cannot solve them. So technology investments are key, but they’re not going to pay off immediately. So these kinds of efforts that are multi-party, multi-focused, multi-pronged and faceted, that’s where we need to put our efforts and I think the money will follow. The money will follow what proves the most successful or will at least show the most promise.
In terms of investment, many of the speakers addressed or were from areas of the world that are not as developed in technology, but are starting to gain access to the internet and don’t have the background or the education about what it can do. In terms of investment, do you guys have plans to address this issue in some of these nations that are not as developed?
We have educational and awareness raising resources available everywhere. Personally I see the developing world as an opportunity. Yes they are gaining access to technology quicker, but they have the ability to learn from the Western world and the mistakes that we made, and they have the ability and the opportunity to do things right from the ground up. They just can’t let the technology get ahead of them, they have to really incorporate the learning and the awareness raising and some of the good, healthy practices and habits, developing those habits for going online and keeping oneself and one’s family safe. But I see it as more of an opportunity than as a problem.
You mentioned that you are also trying to broaden your network of allies in fighting this issue, so why broaden it to faith-based organizations, why come to a Jesuit university to participate in this conference?
I say why not? Why would you not take advantage of such a huge platform and such a huge array of people to make aware of the situation. These are very difficult conversations to have. People don’t want, whether it’s people in government or elsewhere, they don’t want to acknowledge that these issues exist. It’s a very delicate topic, it’s a very sensitive topic, in some instances it’s taboo, so it’s been very refreshing to have a new outlet, to have a new audience, to potentially involve new stakeholders, and to see how people are coming to the issue and addressing it very directly, and very head-on, and being very open and transparent about what’s happening in their countries, and about how serious these situations and these issues are. So I will collaborate, I will work with anyone who wants to talk about these issues, we all can learn from one another. And the only way we’re going to get better, the only way we’re going to do and learn more is to really expand the dialogue.
You mentioned that a lot of people say that it’s all technology’s fault. So what can technology do to help in the issue and what should people perhaps take into their own hands?
People need to own their own presence online and they need to know what they are doing. They need to safeguard their own reputation. So there are certain habits and practices that they could develop, we offer a wealth of materials on our website. One thing I want to point out about people and their own learning is sometimes, unfortunately, that leaning comes a little bit too late. We were discussing this in my workshop. It’s been my experience that what drives people to action, and I’m talking about pro-action, is something bad happening to them. Their identity has been stolen, so now I need to go figure out how to protect myself from identity theft. A child’s been bullied, now I need to go figure out what’s been happening with online bullying. Unfortunately we want to galvanize people and rally them to take some proactive steps to safeguard their reputations, to know who and with whom they are talking, to know what they are sharing online, to be discreet where discretion is warranted. That’s not suppressing the kinds of engagements, and connections and interactions they want to have, but that’s doing so with eyes wide open, and that’s doing so with a healthy dose of reality and of what could potentially go wrong and of being aware of risks. I know there was a first part to your question…
What can technology do when it comes to this issue, but what are it’s limits?
Well technology can always help, and we tell people to get help from technology. So technology can help determine for instance, what parents want their kids to see online, what websites they want them to go to, who they want them to communicate with. Some people call them “family controls,” at Microsoft we call them “family safety settings.” And they’re right there in your Windows operating system, in your Xbox live console, so that is our obligation, that is our obligation as a technology company, t put those kinds of tools and resources into the product itself to help people, and to give them the tools they need to better educate themselves, make them aware of these issues, and to hopefully get them to want to teach others, to inform others. So it very much is a multi-stakeholder issue, it’s everyone’s problem and it’s everyone’s opportunity.
Are you going to the meeting with Pope Francis tomorrow?
Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Are you Catholic?
Yes, I am. I spoke with my priest before I came here, because I was a bit overwhelmed.
What do you expect from that meeting, what do you hope is going to come out of that meeting tomorrow with the Pope?
Well he’s going to be presented with this declaration, which is a series of commitments, or calls to action, for every stakeholder group who was present at this congress, and it has the ability to be monumental. I really hope there is a follow-up and follow-through, because I have attended things like this before, not of this magnitude, where everyone is so excited and so jazzed to take this forward, and there’s very little follow-up and follow-through, and I personally am someone who always wants to do more and to continue. I don’t sign up to anything, I don’t commit to anything unless I’m going to be fully in.
In many ways Pope Francis has helped put climate change and immigration into the minds of policy makers. Do you think he has the ability to put the protection of minors up there?
Of course, of course.
Some have said there is perhaps anti-Catholic, anti-religious sentiment in Silicon Valley. Will they listen to the Church on this?
Well, we’re not in Silicon Valley, so I can’t attest to what’s going on in Silicon Valley, but I personally don’t see it. When I told my manager, my boss, that I had the ability to come here, he said, ‘get me an invitation, too.’ That was very wonderful to hear, and I did get him an invitation, but unfortunately he changed roles and he didn’t think it was particularly relevant for him to come and though that since he’s not in the same role perhaps he should not. So I’m the only one here for Microsoft, but I’m here.
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It seems to me the issue is not complicated. If the bishops and priests preach universal salvation why bother to attend mass and receive the sacraments? Jesus died to break the power of Satan in a fallen world. There is no salvation apart from union with Him in His Mystical Body. Unless we eat His Body and drink His Blood we have no life within us. Unfortunately, many in the Church have been deceived into believing that Satan does not exist, clergy and laity. We live in a sea of wickedness, were many call what is evil good, and what is good evil. There are none so blind who will not see.
We read: “…The reasons for leaving [the Church] varied, with older people citing the Church’s handling of the abuse crisis and younger people pointing to the obligation of paying church tax, according to one earlier study.”
So, the 1960s sexual revolution metastasizing into clericalist sexual abuse, plus clericalist entanglement with the state through the Church tax. Symptoms of a profoundly hollowed-out Church…
And, leading from behind, the clericalist Bishop Batzing believes (the Faith?) that the solution is more of the same; he advocates “continued ‘cultural change’ and the implementation of the German Synodal Way resolutions…” So, invalid ordinations of a female priestesshood; a permanent “synodal assembly”/local plebiscite absent the papacy; and cultural (!) redefinition of the universal Natural Law and the very meaning of “sexual acts”, etc. etc.
Life inside the bubble!
Yes. Because embracing the zeitgeist of the 1970s has worked wonders for mainline Protestant communities.
Confront these fools and call them to account.
Two things need to happen to the Catholic Church in Germany:
#1. All bishops must resign immediately.
#2. The German Church needs to stop taking any and all money from the German State. Until the German Church does this, they are in bed with Satan and doing Satan’s bidding.
#1 I believe there are 4 bishops who oppose the Synodal Way (effectively, they have blocked a number of its moves). Probably be better to keep them around. Given the shrinking Catholic population, they could probably consolidate the other dioceses into those 4.
#2 Yes. A thousand times yes.
Maybe not so fast, here…
On the FIRST point, not “all” bishops in Germany are sucking up to der Synodal Weg.
Of those not devoted to mutilating the Church and the universal natural law, one listing gives Cardinal Rainier Woelke (Cologne), Stephan Burger (Freiburg), Bertram Meier (Augsburg), Stefan Oster (Passau), Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg), Wolfgang Ipolt (Gorlitz), Gregor Maria Hanke (Eichstatt), plus a few auxiliary bishops and probably others.
On the SECOND point, the church tax is not confined to Germany.
It’s also collected in five other European nations (Germany, plus Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden), largely as an awkward compensation for the combined effects in the 18th and 19th-century industrial demographics (populations migrating off the farm) and then secular expropriation of land previously owned by the churches. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/04/30/in-western-european-countries-with-church-taxes-support-for-the-tradition-remains-strong/ Pope Benedict commented in one of his books that the tax could be understandable given the even longer weight of history, but that the penalty of excommunication for opting out was “indefensible.”
THIRDLY, and looking ahead, the next-generation question might be whether or when a non- or even anti-Christian religion/culture grafts itself onto any of the secularist and post-Christian state mechanisms.
My limited reading suggests that Islamic interest in the church tax (and mosque tax?) is stymied by the fact that the highly sectarian Islamic immigrant enclaves cannot agree on a needed consolidated leadership within any of the above-listed nation-states.
And we Catholics thought Protestant “sects” (including der Synodal Weg) were quite enough…
” . . . the German Synodal Way . . . has not stemmed the dramatic decline in Catholic numbers.”
Mmm. I wonder why that is.
A good bad thing is that there’s no German Church to be in schism. At least His Holiness can take credit for that. Dallying along for over a decade has left a lonely group of hierarchy, generals without an army.
They’re multiple reasons apart from indecisive Vatican intervention. Nazism and war had to have had a deleterious effect on the German psyche, the truth of the faith. I still recall as a soldier the many crucifixion shrines hidden in the forests of Bavaria. I remember my Internet friend Alexandra, who later entered a contemplative convent in Bavaria. Some of the more pleasant tourists I met in Rome were German. Because of that and other reasons I don’t believe the faith is entirely dead. Not yet.
Bishop George Bätzing, cardinal Reinhard Marx need to own their responsibility in the futile, demoralizing path they took the Church. Rabid liberal clergy and laypersons performed the finishing touch. Who needs a Church to attend and pay huge dues to when one need not do anything different from whatever one does? Except to pay dues and attend pop liturgical entertainment on Sundays. Although good leaders like Woelki, Muller, Voderholzer remain.
Wonderment remains over the effectiveness that Amazonia style ecclesiology had in the German debacle. From the rainforests of Brazil pagan, likely diabolic ritual was imported to Rome, Vatican lawn prostrate worship of pagan paraphernalia, enshrinement of pagan goddess with song and dance in the sanctuary of St Peter’s Basilica. Further bedazzlement that this ancient liturgy was reveled while the Latin Mass was disparaged. Idolatry has consequences.
While there remains the remnant of true faith in Germany there’s hope of the return of the King. Let’s hope, yes pray that occurs before the final return.
Bishops announce this sort of tragic news but never say who is responsible. Could they be more brazen? Who ever came home from work and announced “Honey, I really screwed up today. We’re broke and I lost the business!”
Their very comportment bespeaks the present tragic circumstance. Faith comes through hearing. What is the world hearing?
Ps: if the German bishops have done such a smash bang job that Deutschland is now a “mission country,” will the Kirchensteur (church tax) refunds be in the mail with apologies from Their Graces?
True indeed! In Germany today you now have many priests and missionaries from former mission countries like Nigeria, India, and the Philippines staffing parishes and other Church based institutions.
It’s worth asking:
If Germany is now a missionary country, then what is the Vatican?
Well, there’s a new one on me. German theologians and canon lawyers are debating about excommunication for those who LEAVE the church. No wonder the German church is failing. What a hot button issue: people leaving the church are apparently angry that they are excommunicated. It’s what they want, for crying out loud. But this is the convoluted, nothing-ness of an intellectual elite who cannot fathom the silliness they immerse themselves in. And the German faithful are supposed to trust that crowd? That crowd of intellectuals that seems to be counting the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin THAT DOESN’T EXIST. The growing list of German Catholic inanities is depressing.
Maybe if Batzing and his Buddies started teaching REAL Catholicism rather than their synodal salad, Germany might be a little more Catholic. Take Christ’s advice to Peter, Georg: be converted (back to Catholicism, not what passes for it in Limburg) then confirm your brethren.
When Faith and Money are so intertwined within the Church, alongside a national government with little semblance of having a moral compass.
Germany isn’t the only European mission country. Germany gets all the attention but Belgium is, as far as I can tell, in the same category. There are others.
What they seem to have in common is the notion that the answer is more of what isn’t working.
I am guessing that Batzing considers the current situation in Germany to be his hoped for result.
Still it would be better if your cash cow dried up and souls were saved! But that is not how Catholicism is done Deutschland? Nein?
The German church is already in de facto schism, thanks to Batzing and about 90% of the German hierarchy. Their Synodal Way is promoting heresy in order to accommodate the church to the secular world. When there is no difference between Church teaching and the secular world, why belong? Especially when a tax is involved! This insane symbiosis between the Church and State reminds one of why Luther rebelled against the Church, especially when the non-payment of the tax results in excommunication! Show me the money or you will not be saved!
The Pilgrim Church is a movement of fellow mortals forward. Prayer, fasting, penance, solidarity, and co-humanity were values practiced and preached by Jesus and his apostles. Germany is a beautiful country. Germans are hard working and wonderful people.