Is this FUD or a genuine cause for concern?

[Leahhhh]

https://www.rt.com/news/421863-child-abuse-blockchain-bitcoin/

Are these reports a real cause for concern?

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[Bitmore1]

https://www.rt.com/news/421863-child-abuse-blockchain-bitcoin/

Are these reports a real cause for concern?

 I rather doubt it. 

It is like saying some magazines have child porn so we have to ban all magazines. 

It may be true that there is some illegal activities, but look at the source;  Russia Today, which does have a slant on the news, and Russia is hoping to have its own crypto currency, so sabotage is not out of the possible.

[richardsNY]

It's pure fud, even though it is actually true. It shouldn't be a surprise that it is possible to store different kinds of data on the blockchain, so I don't see why they make a big deal out of it. It's just another attempt to bring Bitcoin down, but it won't be doing anything, where the less we talk about it, the less relevance it gets. People can upload disgusting images and video's on YouTube as well, where their algorithm needs some time to analyze the content and to remove it. Should we sue YouTube for that? Should they halt their entire operations and have their head quarters raided because of that? It's an attempt to scare off the average joe....

[buwaytress]

Here's a recent thread discussing the same: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3160352.msg32679323#msg32679323

It's pure fud, even though it is actually true. It shouldn't be a surprise that it is possible to store different kinds of data on the blockchain, so I don't see why they make a big deal out of it. It's just another attempt to bring Bitcoin down, but it won't be doing anything, where the less we talk about it, the less relevance it gets. People can upload disgusting images and video's on YouTube as well, where their algorithm needs some time to analyze the content and to remove it. Should we sue YouTube for that? Should they halt their entire operations and have their head quarters raided because of that? It's an attempt to scare off the average joe....

Not to mention extremely old hat news. This caused the same flurry of concern almost five years ago when similar data was found in the blockchain. I've been reading more and more now recycled news. Seems the theory about media being in cycles about Bitcoin is true after all. We'll probably hear about it again in 2023, when people forget and move on.

Either journalists are getting lazy or some troll ran out of energy to find something new.

[randythered]

It's FUD, it might hurt the price a bit but it's nothing to worry about. No one blames the church when the priests are found to be fondling little boys and that's much more their fault than the blockchain technology is at fault for people misusing it. Actually eventually blockchain technology could be useful for tracking these guys because you could see exactly where certain things are moving around.

[dothebeats]

No, but for sure a lot of traders, especially the bears would use this to their advantage in order to get some form of momentum in trading. These type of news only reappears in a couple of years after the people's attention is shifted toward other things. Child porn existed even without the blockchain and is darn evident in the dark web. People are paying hundreds of dollars (take note, dollars) for these type of videos yet the media hasn't covered any type of reports for that one. Talk about unbiased reporting, lol. This would soon be forgotten until the media would find another recycled news to FUD again.

[BitHodler]

Either journalists are getting lazy or some troll ran out of energy to find something new.

I think the first option is valid. It's basically the same with their Tether nonsense articles. Nothing new was there to add, but they still found it necessary to rehash old information, but then with slightly different wording.

These news sites are almost like how signature campaigns back in the days were allowing people to shit post in order to get paid. The more articles these site release, the more income they get.

In times where there isn't anything new or exciting, they'll have to be creative in order to still release content, and rehashing old articles is something they revert to quite often, especially in the last 12 or so months.

[TERA2]

Its a genuine concern for miners and people who use a wallet which downloads the full blockchain instead of electrum etc. This is because there is that 1 actual pic on the blockchain (not the links). These people will now have a picture of child porn on their hard drive. Possession of a copy of a child porn is always illegal no matter what. It is one of the few laws where possession establishes the entire crime and not intent. For instance if a child you dont even know randomly sends you a nude pic you are automatically guilty.

[batang_bitcoin]

That's totally a FUD.

No, There Isn’t Child Porn on the Bitcoin Blockchain

[European Central Bank]

That's totally a FUD.

No, There Isn’t Child Porn on the Bitcoin Blockchain

this is ultimately far more significant and far more subversive - https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/z4k73w/someone-put-the-tiananmen-square-tank-man-image-in-the-bitcoin-blockchain-to-troll-china

now every chinese miner is harbouring forever a photo of the tiananmen square tank man and information about the protests. and every user can access it too. and no one can stop it.

but we're never gonna hear stories about this, are we?

[Oasisman]

Here's a recent thread discussing the same: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3160352.msg32679323#msg32679323

It's pure fud, even though it is actually true. It shouldn't be a surprise that it is possible to store different kinds of data on the blockchain, so I don't see why they make a big deal out of it. It's just another attempt to bring Bitcoin down, but it won't be doing anything, where the less we talk about it, the less relevance it gets. People can upload disgusting images and video's on YouTube as well, where their algorithm needs some time to analyze the content and to remove it. Should we sue YouTube for that? Should they halt their entire operations and have their head quarters raided because of that? It's an attempt to scare off the average joe....

Not to mention extremely old hat news. This caused the same flurry of concern almost five years ago when similar data was found in the blockchain. I've been reading more and more now recycled news. Seems the theory about media being in cycles about Bitcoin is true after all. We'll probably hear about it again in 2023, when people forget and move on.

Either journalists are getting lazy or some troll ran out of energy to find something new.

Well, thanks for bringing that up, I almost believe it. I also read the same discussion content regarding this issue in my local social media news, and I was a bit worried that it might affect market price. But nah, this is totally a FUD, how could a system liable of all financial records and transactions store a different content?

[jamids]

Maybe they cannot think of any news to spread FUD again that's why they recycled some news. Since there are so many newbies in crypto world, this kind of news will still have an effect to the price and might scare some people. Child abuse as well as those other illegal activities have been existing since time immemorial obviously even before the existence of blockchain and now they are making a big deal out of it. Well this is another manipulation and we should just ride it by selling when the whales sell and buy when the whales buy. We cannot follow them the whole time but at least we have an idea when is the right time to buy or sell.

[richminded]

https://www.rt.com/news/421863-child-abuse-blockchain-bitcoin/

Are these reports a real cause for concern?

A waste of time reading the article. Its another FUD news trying to corrupt he mind of the people.
If this is supported with links, I might agree but since its not, basically a FUD news.
This news cannot affect the market for sure, better to invent a news that's quiet real. Lol

[emanymton]

People can upload disgusting images and video's on YouTube as well, where their algorithm needs some time to analyze the content and to remove it. Should we sue YouTube for that? Should they halt their entire operations and have their head quarters raided because of that? It's an attempt to scare off the average joe....

This is going to be an unpopular opinion but I really don't think it's complete FUD like the other posters suggest. It is old news being recycled for sure, but that doesn't mean there's no substance to it.

The difference between this material being on youtube vs the blockchain is that the blockchain is public and immutable.
Youtube can remove the content at will, magazines containing the content can be removed from publication and destroyed, whereas this material stays on the blockchain forever.  There is no method to remove that data once it's on there.

This means that if the govt decides at some time to bring down bitcoin they have a valid legal reason and technically everybody who has a copy of the blockchain on their hdd is in possession of highly illegal content and as such breaking the law.

Whether or not they decide to enforce it is another question but the analogies posted in this thread are faulty because none of those comparisons involve immutable media like the blockchain is.

To answer your original question I do believe it is a true cause for concern and if some particular SJW group decides to target bitcoin they have a very valid reason right there. It also doesn't help btc's reputation any considering the fact that it's been associated with the scum of the earth from the very beginning.

[Reset779]

I believe this is a legitimate concern. Not just for child porn people. It's for anything.

Suddenly you have a tool anyone can use to upload any kind of sensitive material that no court in the whole world can take down.

You can't censor this either because that would be against bitcoin's decentralization policy. You can't have some kidn of central police that checks files uploaded to the blockchain.

So let's say some dude wants to have revenge on his ex, he can just upload nudes of her onto the bitcoin blockchain, and suddenly no one can take it down.

I think we should just hard fork or soft fork to disallow any kind of extraneous data on the blockchain, it should just be transactions.

[pooya87]

Its a genuine concern for miners and people who use a wallet which downloads the full blockchain instead of electrum etc. This is because there is that 1 actual pic on the blockchain (not the links). These people will now have a picture of child porn on their hard drive. Possession of a copy of a child porn is always illegal no matter what. It is one of the few laws where possession establishes the entire crime and not intent. For instance if a child you dont even know randomly sends you a nude pic you are automatically guilty.

no there is no picture, there is only hashes on the blockchain. in facts it is only 80 bytes max data which you then have to decipher and then follow it until you get to a picture.

this is just the media doing a widespread attack on bitcoin with certain pre-created content that they keep on releasing on fixed intervals to keep pushing the price down by creating panic in the market. and that is not even new. this news came out back in 2013 https://www.dailydot.com/business/bitcoin-child-porn-transaction-code/ or in other words when we had one of the bigger bubbles in bitcoin from $10 to $250 (2400%) and price was falling afterwards. now price had another bubble from $1000 to $20000 (1900%) and is now falling again and the same bullshit news is coming out.... hmmm...

on the same topic, this is interesting example from bitcoin.com (https://news.bitcoin.com/no-isnt-child-porn-bitcoin-blockchain/)

Asserting that there is child pornography on the blockchain would be like strolling through the U.S. Capitol Building, dropping a scrap of paper containing a deep web address, and then claiming that the American government is storing obscene content.

[Reset779]

Its a genuine concern for miners and people who use a wallet which downloads the full blockchain instead of electrum etc. This is because there is that 1 actual pic on the blockchain (not the links). These people will now have a picture of child porn on their hard drive. Possession of a copy of a child porn is always illegal no matter what. It is one of the few laws where possession establishes the entire crime and not intent. For instance if a child you dont even know randomly sends you a nude pic you are automatically guilty.

no there is no picture, there is only hashes on the blockchain. in facts it is only 80 bytes max data which you then have to decipher and then follow it until you get to a picture.

this is just the media doing a widespread attack on bitcoin with certain pre-created content that they keep on releasing on fixed intervals to keep pushing the price down by creating panic in the market. and that is not even new. this news came out back in 2013 https://www.dailydot.com/business/bitcoin-child-porn-transaction-code/ or in other words when we had one of the bigger bubbles in bitcoin from $10 to $250 (2400%) and price was falling afterwards. now price had another bubble from $1000 to $20000 (1900%) and is now falling again and the same bullshit news is coming out.... hmmm...

on the same topic, this is interesting example from bitcoin.com (https://news.bitcoin.com/no-isnt-child-porn-bitcoin-blockchain/)

Asserting that there is child pornography on the blockchain would be like strolling through the U.S. Capitol Building, dropping a scrap of paper containing a deep web address, and then claiming that the American government is storing obscene content.

Yeha man... bitcoin at $10 was such a huge bubble, that thing was definitely not going past $11, was going to fall back to $0.3. That's totes what was going to happen. These experts

[nc50lc]

no there is no picture, there is only hashes on the blockchain. in facts it is only 80 bytes max data which you then have to decipher and then follow it until you get to a picture.

One reasonable thing is that some parts of those hashes when translated into human readable format results into "chunks" of data when arranged and put together became that "completed jigsaw puzzle" images and texts.

The whole blockchain is too huge that if you want to make something out of the hashes from the blocks is possible, it's even possible to find phrases/sentences out of it.
Like what they (FUD~ers) have been doing to books, highlighting words and making a mysterious "hidden" message to boost or destroy its fame.
Someone must have made up that news by finding those "hidden" evidence to spread that FUD.

It's a Retro FUD.

[timerland]

https://www.rt.com/news/421863-child-abuse-blockchain-bitcoin/

Are these reports a real cause for concern?

It's like saying "internet is the main transmission media for child pornography, therefore we should outlaw the internet/the internet is harmful for everyone".

I know anecdotally that the vast majority of bitcoin users do not even care about what is embedded in the bitcoin blockchain, let alone try to seek out anything illegal from the blockchain. And this isn't even new news, it's been discussed before. Plus, no pictures are actually stored on the blockchain. That would take up megabytes, which is just way too expensive.

So yeah, I'd say it's completely FUD to try to deter people from investing and buying BTC for... Absolutely no reason at all.

Will this affect price? I doubt it. It really do. The bitcoin community has moved past a point where it is immature enough to believe in such sort of FUD. But it does seem like someone is trying to manipulate the markets here.

[Pursuer]

it is pretty simple to know if it is actually FUD or not.
OP_Return (the method they use to add arbitrary data to blockchain) was added back in 2013 and the feature was enabled in bitcoin core client in 2014 in version 0.9.0
https://bitcoinfoundation.org/core-development-update-5/
https://bitcoin.org/en/release/v0.9.0#opreturn-and-data-in-the-block-chain
all of this happened 4-5 years ago and as a matter of fact all the drama about illegal content on the blockchain also happened in 2013-2014 and the media was filled with them.

now we are in 2018 and suddenly the media decided to take out an old news, dust it off and spread it around once again. what other motivation could they have other than spreading FUD?