I don't think it's legal for those people to view it though if they have reason to believe it contains certain images of child abuse. Once the AI flags it that shit goes radioactive and is basically unviewable until LEO looks at it. Even if local LEO looks at it and clears it, that doesn't clear you from being federally prosecuted if you review the content later.

Here is how it worked when I ran a file sharing service:

- We would allow people to upload files

- these files would go into a 'holding tank'

- the files would then get greenlit if some rudimentary algorithm determined they were landscapes or other innocent content

- the remainder would be flagged for review

- bulk images would be displayed in a grid of 8x8 thumbnails

- the vast majority of those would not be reason for further action and would be greenlit, the remainder would go into yet another holding tank

- now the pictures would be viewed full size, any kind of image that would be against the TOS would be rejected and a hash would be kept to avoid seeing it again

- any kind of image that was deemed illegal or borderline would be passed on to LEO for another decision, possibly resulting in criminal charges against the uploader.

The complications:

- uploaders would try to mask their identity

- uploaders would be all over the world

- even after reviewing LEO would sometimes indicate that an image was inconclusive (in those cases we erred on the side of caution)

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In short: companies can and do work together with law enforcement to stop service abuse and illegal activities. Whether it is an AI that flags it or a human is from a legal perspective utterly immaterial, and if LEO clears it that definitely means that you are allowed to either view it or pass it on.

If AI flag and human is "immaterial" difference as you noted, wouldn't AI flagging it as abuse material make it impossible to view it by a (non-LEO) human afterwards, as now that would show actual intent to view that material (it is illegal to view it with intent to view it).

Surely your reviewers never deliberately looked at the material a second time after marking it as abuse material for law enforcement, as that would be legally risky I would think.

The issue here is even if local LEO clear it, the federal prosecutor's opinion can differ and he can use the fact you knew AI flagged it and that you released it anyway to damn you. There are cases out there where local/state government cleared someone of wrong-doing but they still got hemmed up federally.