Child sex abuse victim beg Elon Musk make e remove links to her images

One victim of child sexual abuse don beg Elon Musk to stop links wey dey offer images of her abuse wey pipo dey post on im social media platform X.

"To hear say my abuse - and di abuse of so many odas - still dey circulate and dey commodified here dey vex me," "Zora" (no be her real name) wey dey live for United States, tok. Dem first abuse am more dan 20 years ago.

"Evri time pesin sell or share child abuse material, dem dey directly fuel di original, horrific abuse."

X say dem get "zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material" and add say to dey tackle pipo wey exploit children na "top priority".

Di BBC bin find images of Zora while investigating di global trade of child sex abuse material, wey dey estimated to worth billions of dollars by Childlight, di Global Child Safety Institute.

Di material dey among cache of thousands of similar photos and videos wey pipo dey offer for sale on X account. We bin get in touch wit di trader through di messaging app Telegram, and dis lead us to one bank account wey dey linked to one pesin for Jakarta, Indonesia.

Na one family member first abuse Zora. A collection of images of her abuse don dey popular among paedophiles wey dey collect and trade such content. Many oda victims dey face di same situation, as images of abuse continue to circulate today.

Zora dey vex say di trade dey continue to dis day.

"My body no be commodity. E neva be commodity, and e no go eva be" she tok.

"Dose wey dey distribute dis material no be passive bystanders, dem be complicit perpetrators."

Tracking di X account

Images of Zora abuse bin dey originally only available on di so-called dark web, but she now dey live wit di reality say pipo dey openly promote links on X.

Social media platforms dey try get rid of illegal materials, but di scale of di problem too big.

Last year di US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), bin receive more dan 20 million mandatory reports from tech companies about incidents of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) - illegal images and videos on their platforms.

NCMEC bin attempt to identify victims and perpetrators, di organisation den contact law enforcement.

We bin approached "hacktivist" group Anonymous, wey dia members dey try combat di trade in child abuse images on X. One of them tell us say di situation dey bad as bifor.

Dem tell us about one single account on X. Di account use foto of di head and shoulders of real child as im avatar. Notin dey obscene about am.

But di words and emojis for di account bio make am clear say di owner dey sell child sexual abuse material and link dey to one account on di messaging app Telegram.

E appear say di trader base for Indonesia and dey offer "VIP packages", collections of images and video files of abuse for sale to paedophiles around di world.

Di Anonymous activist don dey work to report di trader multiple accounts on X, so dem fit dey removed by di platform moderation systems. But each time one account dey removed, anoda one go replace am, e tell us.

Di trader appear to don oversee more dan 100 almost-identical accounts. Di activist tell us say wen e bin contact di trader directly using Telegram, di trader bin reply say e get thousands of videos and images for sale.

"I get baby. Kids young 7-12", he write for messages to di activist wey BBC take eye see. E also explain say some of di content show child rape.

We bin get in touch wit di trader oursefs.

E bin provide links to samples of material, wey we no open or view. Instead, we contact experts from di Canadian Centre for Child Protection (CCCP) for Winnipeg - wey dey work alongside law enforcement and dey legally permitted to view such content.

"Di Telegram account na, for lack of beta term, taster pack - essentially collage of di material e get wey dey available of all di different victims," Lloyd Richardson, di CCCP director of technology explain. "Wen we look at all di different images for di collages, I go say e get thousands."

Among di files na images of Zora.

Her abuser for di US dey prosecuted and imprisoned many years ago, but no be bifor footage of di abuse don already dey shared and dey sell across di world.

Zora tell us: "I don try ova di years to overcome my past and no let am determine my future, but perpetrators and stalkers still find way to view dis filth."

As she grow older, stalkers uncova Zora identity, contacting and threatening her online. She say she feel "bullied ova crime wey rob me of my childhood".

Finding di trader

To identify di trader selling photos of Zora, we pose as buyer.

Di trader send us im bank information and an online payment account, both get di same name listed as di account holder.

Di Anonymous activist don discova dis name dey also linked to two money transfers and anoda bank account.

We track down man wit di same name as dat wey dey listed for di accounts, to address for di outskirts of di Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Producer wey dey work for di city for di BBC World Service go visit di address and confront man for di premises wey be say wen dem be present di evidence, e say e dey shocked.

"I no know anytin about dis," e say.

DI man confam di one of di bank accounts na im own and state say e dey created for single mortgage-related transaction. E say e neva use di account since and say e go contact im bank to find out wetin don happun. E deny knowledge of di oda bank account or di money transfers.

We no fit know for certain if, and to wat extent, e fit dey involved and sake of dat we no dey name am.

Di way Zora images dey marketed na method used by hundreds of traders across di world, our investigation find.

Posts on X use different hashtags wey dey familiar to paedophiles. Images wey appear on di platform dey often taken from known child abuse images but fit dey cropped so dem no dey pornographic.

Elon Musk say to remove child sexual abuse material na im "top priority" wen e take ova X, den known as Twitter, for 2022.

Social media platforms in general, no be just X, fit much more to prevent criminals posting repeatedly for di way, Lloyd Richardson from di CCCP say.

"E dey great say we fit send takedown notice [to social media platforms], and dem remove di account, but dat na di bare minimum."

Di problem na say users fit come back onto di platforms for few days wit new account, e say.

X tell us e get "zero tolerance" for child sexual exploitation. "We continually invest in advanced detection to enable us to take swift action against content and accounts wey dey violate our rules," according to tok tok pesin.

Di platform tell us e work "closely wit di National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and support law enforcement efforts to prosecute dis heinous crimes".

Telegram say: "All channels dey moderated, and more dan 565,000 groups and channels related to di spread of CSAM don dey banned so far for 2025."

Di platform say e get more dan thousand moderators wey dey work on di issue.

"Telegram proactively monitors public content across di platform and remove objectionable material bifor e fit reach users or dey reported," tok tok pesin add.

Wen we tell Zora her photos dey traded using X, she get dis message for di platform owner, Elon Musk: "Our abuse dey shared, traded, and sell for di app you own. If you go act without hesitation to protect your own children, I beg you to do di same for di rest of us. Di time to act na now."