Plantynet "Preparing Online Class Safety with Harmful Video Streaming Blocking Technology"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Plantynet announced on the 27th that it is blocking exposure to harmful sites such as pornography and violent content as students' internet and smartphone usage time increased due to the unprecedented online school openings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the online school opening for lower-grade elementary students on the 20th, approximately 5.4 million students from elementary to high school are all participating in online classes. As students' internet usage time has increased significantly, concerns about access to harmful sites are growing. In fact, more parents are reporting difficulties managing their young elementary children’s internet use due to the increased internet time from online classes and their still limited self-control.

Additionally, with 'YouTube live streaming' included as a remote learning method and students’ 'YouTube' usage increasing, incidents of pornographic videos being broadcast have occurred, drawing attention to Plantynet, which is developing harmful video streaming blocking technology.

A Plantynet official stated, "Recently, the usage rate of streaming services through video platforms has surged, and we judged that a prompt response to video content produced through these media is necessary, so we have been promoting related technology development." He explained, "By adopting AI deep learning image classification technology, this technology can determine harmfulness solely based on video information without separate DB collection, and it can block the playback of harmful videos streamed on platforms such as YouTube, AfreecaTV, and Facebook Live."

Furthermore, the company recently pilot-applied this technology to a local education office’s ‘Information Dysfunction Project’ and succeeded in commercializing the PC version service. They also plan to complete the app version development soon. Cho Seongseok, head of the Next Generation Technology Research Institute, emphasized, “The development of technology to determine the harmfulness of streamed videos through AI deep learning technology has reached its final stage. We aim to complete the technology development by June, undergo verification procedures, and commercialize the service jointly with telecom companies in the second half of the year.”