Today, we recognize Resolver’s 20th anniversary supporting partners across social media, gaming, AI, and public bodies in their work to protect children and wider society from online abuse, exploitation, and emerging threats.
This milestone matters because of the people behind it.
In this final blog in our anniversary series, we reflect on what this moment means to our teams, our partners, and our continued commitment to this mission, as well as what the future may bring.
Day 1, Year 1: November 25, 2005
Resolver’s Trust & Safety division began in 2005, operating as “Crisp” for 17 of the last 20 years, during the early days of Web 2.0.
It was the year of the Xbox 360, iPod Shuffle, and Playstation Portable. YouTube and Reddit were launched, the MMO GuildWars was released, and fiber-optic internet speeds became widely accessible.
The word “selfie” was coined, the Unity game engine released, Roblox entered into beta testing, and the Pepe the Frog meme began its unexpected internet journey.
Etsy, Automatticc, and Box were founded. The driving force behind so many tech start ups, Y Combinator, opened its doors. MySpace was acquired by NewsCorp.
In the context of those giants — some long-gone, others global leaders in their respective sectors — 20 years feels like a lifetime.
Yet, through each of those 20 years, Resolver has worked tirelessly alongside our partners to protect children and the most vulnerable in society from online harm and exploitation. We represent an unwavering commitment from generations of dedicated people across our Trust & Safety division.
To every one of them: thank you.
A timeline defined by evolution
Across this anniversary series, we’ve shared what two decades have taught us and reflected on a simple truth: Resolver evolves because the threat landscape evolves. The way we operate, the technology we build, and the expertise our people bring must adapt in step with the harms we see.
Here are some of the core lessons that have shaped that evolution:
- Taxonomies of harm must keep pace with reality. They shift with new regulation, academic research, and a threat landscape that blends online and offline behavior.
- Speaking the world’s languages is essential. Mitigating global threats demands cultural and linguistic context, not translation alone.
- Effective detection requires layered systems. Progress comes from combining tools, signals, and approaches, including our newest work on unknown CSAM detection.
- Proactive safety is now expected. Protecting users means anticipating risk, not just responding to it.
- Diverse expertise drives progress. Technologists, analysts, linguists, and domain specialists move faster when they work together.
- Behavioral design and friction matter. Safety often depends on the split-second between intention and action.
- Measuring what matters guides the next step. Real effectiveness comes from looking beyond metrics and understanding how our services perform across different environments and use cases.
A community built on trust
The most important message we have left to share is one of thanks.
To all in our community, past and present, we say this:
To our tech, social and gaming partners: thank you for trusting us to protect your users, platforms, communities and staff across the world
To our regulatory and government partners: thank you for trusting us to protect your teams and the citizens you represent
To our strategic, academic and stakeholder communities: thank you for sharing your knowledge, insight and innovation, and collaborating with us in this shared global mission
To our Resolver people, past and present: thank you for everything you have done, everything you continue to do, and everything you will do to protect our partners and their users from harm
There are two definitions of the word “Resolve”:
- To decide firmly on a course of action
- To find a solution to a problem
After two decades, our resolve remains fierce in protecting children online. Our course of action is clear. We will continue working with our partners across the world to create new technological and human innovations that contribute better solutions which protect children.
We remain resolute in our mission as we look to the next 20 years.
We are Resolver. Partner with us, and protect the world’s children together.
A new standard in proactive CSAM elimination
As we reflect on two decades of protecting children and safeguarding online spaces we’re also looking ahead to the next frontier of Trust & Safety: the proactive, intelligent elimination of CSAM. Resolver’s new Unknown CSAM Detection Service represents the culmination of 20 years of learning, evolving, and purpose. It’s built to identify, prevent, and remove child sexual abuse material at speed and scale, while protecting humans behind the screen.
Learn more about how we’re redefining child safety for the next generation.
More from Trust & Safety’s 20th Anniversary series:
- Two Decades of Protection: Resolver’s Constant Evolution in Online Child Safety
- What We Call Threats: Evolving Taxonomies and the Role of Regulation
- From "Chicken Soup" to Catastrophe: The Dangers of an English-Only Trust & Safety Model
- The Human at the Heart of the Machine: A 20-Year Lesson in Online Safety
- From Reactive to Predictive: Why It’s No Longer Enough to Spot What’s Already Happened
- Wearing Many Hats: The Power of Generalists and Specialists in Online Safety
- Friction is Key: How Behavioral Design Enhances Online Safety
- Measure What Matters: How We Evaluate Impact and Strengthen Detection Across Safety Workflows
