Policy Solutions For Building A Safer Internet

For over a decade, ECPAT-USA has advocated for legislation that protects children from online exploitation, and we applaud Congress for deterring child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the internet through robust policy solutions. With Safer Internet Day being recognized this week on Feb. 8, we would like to highlight three critical bills currently in Congress, the Child RESCUE Act, the END Child Exploitation Act, and the EARN IT Act of 2022 which address the increased risks many children face online.

Online sexual exploitation and abuse are two of the fastest-growing crimes against children in this country, and law enforcement and investigative entities need tools to combat these horrible offenses. Introduced by Representative Abigail Spanberger, the CHILD Rescue Act would require the U.S. Attorney General’s office to establish a national working group for studying policing strategies and identifying appropriate resources to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse online.

ECPAT-USA also strongly supports the Eliminate Network Distribution (END) of Child Exploitation Act, introduced by Representative Anthony Gonzalez. This bipartisan legislation requires technology companies to save records about CSAM for a longer time period and to report suspicious content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). This is crucial as companies like Google and Facebook are currently only required to hold content for 90 days after reporting, which poses significant procedural barriers for law enforcement agencies across the country. Allowing law enforcement more time to assess and analyze CSAM reports enables officials to identify and apprehend criminals online.

Lastly, Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal and Representatives Sylvia Garcia and Ann Wagner recently introduced the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act. The bill would create a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention and hold website platforms and social media companies accountable for CSAM on their sites.

We urgently need these laws to protect our kids. Reports to NCMEC’s CyberTipline increased by 28% from 2019-2020, rising from 16.9 million to 21.7 million reports. As the internet continues to evolve, predators have become more skilled in targeting children to share sexually exploitative images. Ending online exploitation requires proactive intervention and increased government oversight, and ECPAT-USA will continue to support legislation that strengthens existing laws and provides services for survivors.