We are heartened and encouraged by the progress we have made with your support. Here is some of NCOSE’s notable progress from 2017:
Twitter Blocked Blatant Searches for Pornographic Photos and Videos
In March, 2017 Twitter—a member of the Dirty Dozen List—changed its platform so that when users type in hashtags or keywords traditionally associated with pornography and prostitution no results are shown. This is a significant break from Twitter’s past laissez faire approach! More work remains to be done with Twitter, but this is a step in the right direction.
Social Media Campaign to #TackleDemand for Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Reaches Over 1 Million People
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation partnered with over 25 other human rights and anti-trafficking organizations to send one simple message on the night of the Super Bowl: “Real sports fans don’t buy sex.” This simple concept caught on, and by the end of the night, over 1 million individuals saw this message through sharing on social media.
Verizon Makes Improvements to Decrease Accidental Pornography Exposure
After NCOSE met with Verizon’s CEO last year and conducted large-scale action campaigns over the last few years, Verizon has created an opt-in system for new subscribers to FiOS IPTV services, so that new customers will no longer have on-demand pornography films and channels automatically piped into their homes. Verizon continues to sell hardcore pornography, so NCOSE is continuing to call for substantial policy changes, but we are heartened by this step forward.
School Education Resource Beginning to Remove Sexually Graphic Content from Elementary Schools
EBSCO Information Services offers online library resources to public and private schools (K-12), colleges and universities, public libraries, and more. Unfortunately, many of their school products provided easy access to hardcore pornography sites, extremely graphic sexual content, and even links to recruitment sites for porn and prostitution. EBSCO has been in communication with NCOSE for several months in an effort to solve these problems and has implemented a number of solutions. While EBSCO still has significant work to do to clean up its system, the elementary school databases have removed most of their graphic content!
Three States Formally Recognized the Public Health Harms of Pornography
In 2017, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee all formally declared pornography a public health hazard. This is a result of NCOSE’s model state resolution which was first passed in Utah. While these resolutions are non-binding they both educate the public about the research behind the neurological, sociological, and physical harms of pornography and help set the stage for future state actions on issues like ensuring state-funded libraries have adequate filtering systems.
These are just a few of our major successes this year, but as you can see from the Verizon example we still have big challenges ahead. 
That is where you come in: the actions we take to change policies and corporations are not possible without your continued support!
Any amount you choose to donate today will help us fulfill our end-of-year goals and map out an aggressive strategy for next year. Even better, your donation is tax-deductible and our Board of Directors has offered to match all donations, doubling your donation’s impact and creating a culture that defends dignity!
