2023-10-08 01:15:13
In the debate about so-called chat control, one name keeps coming up: Thorn. The organization, co-founded by US actor Ashton Kutcher, plays a key role in drafting and lobbying for the EU legislative package to combat child abuse. With the product “Safer”, Thorn itself also develops software for recognizing files that show depictions of sexual violence. If the EU actually obliges platforms to control chats, then companies will need software to do this – for example that from Thorn.
The investigative platform Follow the Money (FTM) took another closer look at Thorn and comes to the conclusion that the organization is more comparable to a technology company than to a non-profit.
The financial documents audited by FTM show that Thorn has earned millions of dollars from software sales, pays employees sometimes six-figure salaries and is closely linked to Big Tech. Thorn also holds shares worth $930,000 in a venture capital company called A-Grade, in which actor Ashton Kutcher also has a stake.
Kutcher was CEO before Thorn until mid-September. After massive criticism over a letter of support for a convicted rapist, he withdrew back from the role.
Words of closeness and a dozen meetings
FTM’s research also traces how close Thorn came to the European Commission. In a letter, the commission described Thorn as a “partner” and thanked it for the “close cooperation”. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson wrote to Thorn shortly before the publication of the draft chat control regulation: “We have shared many moments on the way to this proposal.”
In total, Thorn has met with EU officials at least a dozen times in the last three years. FTM reconstructed this from documents it received through a freedom of information request. According to them, Thorn also touted its own software as a solution at the meetings.
Research reveals chat control lobby network
A lot of money for external representation
Thorn describes itself as a “charity” in the EU transparency register for lobby groups, but describes itself as a “non-profit startup” in a meeting with Commission officials. According to FTM, Thorn told an EU Commission adviser that it had over 30 customers around the world. In fact, Thorn earned about $3.8 million from its software in 2021, at a Total sales of $19 million.
Thorn apparently spent more than $1.5 million in 2021 on his own external representation and advice, including around $700,000 for the creative agency Instrument INC, $365,000 for the Finsbury Glover Hering Europe agency, and $304,000 for advice at Beneson Strategy Group and 280,000 for advertising on TikTok.
Among the more unusual items in the filings examined by FTM for a charity is a $930,000 investment in venture capital firm A-Grade. This in turn holds shares in companies in the AI industry and in the cryptocurrency market – a rather unsafe investment for a non-profit. In response to FTM’s request to Thorn, it is said that Kutcher gifted these A-Grade shares to Thorn. The organization did not answer whether Thorn’s financial commitment to A-Grade continued.
The pivotal point in chat control
Thorn is something of a linchpin in lobbying for chat control and the fight against encryption. This is also shown by the many personal connections to other organizations that are active in the same field, but also to the security apparatus and the EU Commission. This is what recently came about through research by netzpolitik.org and other media It emerged that two employees from the European police force Europol had moved to Thorn. According to the Commission’s plans, Europol will work closely with a new EU agency, the EU Center for Preventing and Combating Child Sexual Abuse.
Im Board of Directors of Thorn Neelie Kroes, who was EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda from 2010 to 2014, also sits there. Also in board Sitting with Bernie Allen is a representative of the semi-governmental WeProtect Global Alliance, which “brings together experts from government, the private sector and civil society to protect children from online sexual exploitation and abuse.” The chairwoman of Thorn, Julie Cordua, is essentially a member in return Board of Directors of WeProtect. She also sits there with Antonio Labrador Jimenez, who is responsible for chat control legislation for the EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson. Johansson himself does not see this as too much closeness, but rather as “sensationalism” from the media.
One thing is clear: the network of those who have been lobbying for a new form of unfounded mass surveillance for years is increasingly coming to light through various research in recent weeks.
#startup #charity #netzpolitik.org