America Continued from page 15
tive material and the traffic it draws.” The two boys in the case were just 13
when a predator contacted them online posing as a teen girl at their school. The boys were duped into taking images and videos in response, and before long a series of humiliating images were circu- lating online. NCOSE maintains those images
were ultimately downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. After the boys alerted their parents,
the legal brief claims, the social media giant refused to take action even after multiple contacts. “Thanks for reaching out,” Twit-
ter replied. “We’ve reviewed the con- tent, and didn’t find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time. “If you believe there’s a potential
copyright infringement, please start a new report.” The John Doe lawsuit charges, “Twit-
ter has created the meeting place and the marketplace for a community that is generating content which Twitter is monetizing at the expense of exploited children.” It alleges Twitter “knowingly pos-
sessed and broadly distributed child sex abuse material.” But the court in Northern California ruled that Section 230 of the Communi-
cations Decency Act gives immunity to Twitter and other technology compa- nies for hosting or permitting child por- nography on their platforms. NCOSE’s attorneys maintain this reflects a mis- reading of the act and has filed for an en banc review. While Twitter’s official policy oppos-
es any form of sexual abuse or exploi- tation of minors, NCOSE says it has virtually no meaningful age or consent verification requirements restricting either posting or selling pornography on its platform. Twitter appears on NCOSE’s annual
“Dirty Dozen” list of the worst tech com- panies behind the child-porn explosion. But so do a “Who’s Who” of Big Tech
firms including Discord, eBay, Apple App Store, Instagram, GitHub, Kik, OnlyFans, Reddit, Roblox, Snapchat, and Spotify. One hopeful development of late has
been proposed legislation introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. The Kids Online Safety Act would require that all smartphones and devices come from the factory with the highest level of protective settings already activat- ed, to help protect kids from unsafe online activity. Blackburn recently discussed her bill
in an exclusive interview with News- max TV. “It would allow parents and kids to see this for themselves,” she said, “and
Tens of thousands of students have
taken the new course so far this year in Texas, Florida, and Michigan. One of them was a Michigan teen perilously close to being whisked away from her family by an online traficker. Right after one lesson from the A21
course, the girl approached a counselor and said, “What I just learned in class . . . I think it’s happening to me.” Authorities were immediately called in
to investigate. A 30-year-old Philadelphia man allegedly was grooming her, and reportedly had even threatened to kill the girl’s mother. A few days later, the suspect flew
into Grand Rapids to pick the girl up, presumably to force her into a life of unending abuse and misery. He was greeted at the airport by FBI agents and placed under arrest, and now faces three felony charges related to human traficking. Now A21 representatives are working
feverishly to scale up the program and introduce it to as many school districts as possible, before more promising young lives are lost to the scourge of human traficking. — D.P.
to make these decisions and to end this constant barrage of videos and postings that push kids into depression, anxiety, and self-harm eating disorders.” Hawkins says campaigns to shame
Big Tech into protecting kids haven’t worked. “What people need to under- stand is, we can’t train or teach our way out of this, we can’t parent our way out either. Parents don’t have the tools, because Big Tech hasn’t given them to us.”
Online Solicitation of Kids Jumps 82% in 1 Year O
nline platforms aren’t under much legal pressure to remove objectionable content
involving children from their platforms. But they are required to report it. According to the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC), those tipline reports indicate the sexual predation of children online is exploding. Since 2021, incidents of online enticement of
children for sex have jumped 82%. And between 2020 and 2022, cases of obscene material being sent to a child increased tenfold, from 3,547 to 35,624. As alarming as the reports are, NCMEC reports
they are just a tiny fraction of the actual online predatory activity. “Most tech companies around the world choose
16 NEWSMAX | JULY 2023 Incidents: Child Pornography
Online Enticement of Children for Sex Acts
Obscene Material Sent to a Child
2020 21.7
million 37,872 3,547
not to proactively detect and report child sexual exploitation on their networks,” states NCMEC. “The problem continues to grow with limited intervention by the global tech community.”
2021 29.3
million 44,155 5,177 SOURCE: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, CyberTipline Data
2022 31.9
million 80,524 35,624
ZIVICA KERKEZ/SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
