Obviously I already removed all media, banned all the users and prevented account creation. I have ip addresses and metadata of the users

  • BCsven@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    3 months ago

    Anonymously report them. Don’t call police they will come and take the server

  • Xanza@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    3 months ago

    HelloRoot is correct. You should not have deleted anything. You should have simply shutdown the server and contacted the FBI (not the police). Child porn is a serious federal offense and because they committed the offense across state lines (or aren’t in the US at all), FBI wold have jurisdiction. Because you deleted the evidence (a crime, by the way) there’s nothing for them to go on now.

    If this ever happens again, shut down the server so no one can connect, and contact the FBI Criminal Division who has their own child crimes division that specifically deals with child pornography.

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Lots of good responses here. That’d be a really scary find, OP, and I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. :(

    As much as I also long for justice, I also totally understand the inclination towards just nuking and paving the whole thing and moving on. Some factors that occurred to me:

    • Those posting it might be outside your nation’s jurisdiction.
    • They might just be bots set loose by unknown actors.
    • The above, plus they might be using “zombie” machines to bounce this material around unguarded servers wherever they can. It could be very difficult to ascertain who is behind this.

    I agree with others that you should only move forward under the guidance of a good lawyer, because you don’t want to be the most convenient potential suspect they have access to.

    If you could log their IPs or other identifying data and anonymously forward suspicions to authorities that would take action on them, that could potentially be a viable option. But again I’d ask a lawyer.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Search for posts or contact db0. IIRC they worked with LW admin and others to create a filter for this using a very small AI model. It should be on their Git.

  • HelloRoot@lemy.lolEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Probably should have given all of the evidence to the police instead of deleting some of it.

    In most western jurisdictions platform operators are not liable for user content, (as long as they cooperate with the authorities) so nothing for you to worry about.

    Next time, don’t do anything, no deleting, no blocking, contact the police and ask them what they would like you to do. Maybe they’d even would want to letting them keep posting for a while to gather more data on the offenders, but idk how they deal with selfhosted stuff tbh…

    (this is not legal advice)

    (Also I totally understand that you don’t want your other users seing that kind of stuff. I know nothing about the matrix moderation tools, so maybe the media is on the server db somewhere … might be relevant to figure that out)

    Edit: this does not apply if you live in an authoritarian police state or third world country, like OP apparently does.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      I mean…I get where you’re coming from, but fuck that!

      I’d have deleted the entire matrix server entirely. Washed my hands of the entire thing.

      Because you can go to the police, and say “There’s child porn on MY server”, and the cops MIGHT work with you to catch the people actually posting it.

      OR

      They might take the easy way. There’s a guy here, saying he’s hosting a server with child porn. Arrest him, because we know who he is, and call it a win in the media. Yes thats not how the law works…but it’s how lazy and corrupt cops work.

      Cops are never your friend. I’d avoid any interactions with them that you can.

  • MTK@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    You can try this https://www.iwf.org.uk/en/uk-report/

    I would suggest doing it with the tor browser as to not be associated with it in any way.

    Sadly without the actual content and giving your server away for forensics, this might not go anywhere. But! It can help build a case, especially if any of the pii (ip, username, etc) you provide is already being investigated.

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    DO NOT call the police. They will confiscate the server as evidence, and lacking any other suspect, you will be their primary lead. Police aren’t about convictions or justice, they want to consider a case solved.

    By law, you are not liable. But because of law enforcement incentives, it will absolutely become your problem.

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      By law, you are not liable.

      There are hundreds or thousands of different jurisdictions in the world. I don’t think you can say this confidently unless you know exactly where OPs server is located.