NCOSE has released its 2023 Gratitude Report—and there is indeed much to be grateful for!
Thanks to your partnership and support, 2023 was a year full of incredible victories and progress. Billions of people have been better protected from sexual exploitation and online harms!
Here are a few highlights of everything we can celebrate together:
Driving Societal Change to Reject Pornography
- The NCOSE Law Center is representing survivors in two lawsuits against Pornhub and its parent company Aylo (formerly MindGeek). Both lawsuits took major steps forwards in 2023, with Pornhub’s motion to dismiss being denied and the class action case being certified.
- Google now automatically blurs sexually explicit images: 5.3 billion Google searches per day made safe! In announcing the new policy, Google wrote, “We appreciate the feedback from survivors and subject matter experts like the National Center on Sexual Exploitation that help improve practices around online safety.”
- Louisiana, Utah, and Virginia passed NCOSE-supported legislation requiring verification that a user is over the age of 18 before they can access Pornhub and other sites hosting child sexual abuse material.
Ensuring Tech Prioritizes Safety Over Profit
Thanks to you joining us in calling out corporations, many implemented significant safety changes, including but not limited to the below:
- Snapchat improved detection and removal of sexually explicit/exploitative content: 90% of young people in 20+ countries protected! In a public statement, Snapchat thanked NCOSE for influencing these improvements, stating: “Several of our new product safeguards were informed by feedback from The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE).”
- Apple began automatically blurring images and videos containing nudity for kids 12 and under in iMessage, FaceTime, Air Drop, and Photos picker: up to 40% of American 8-12-year-olds protected!
- Discord activated higher safety settings by default and improves policies on child sexualization: 25% of American 11-12-year-olds protected! As always, we are following up on their implementation, but hope the policies on paper soon reflect reality on the platform.
We are also making progress towards federal legislation that would hold tech companies accountable! In 2023, Congress introduced several NCOSE-backed or supported bills, including the EARN IT Act, Kids Online Safety Act, Project Safe Childhood Act, and REPORT Act—all of which are essential remedies to the rampant online circulation of child sexual abuse material.
Achieving a Significant Reduction in Sex Trafficking and Prostitution
- Maine signed into law the NCOSE-backed “Bill to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation” (LD 1435). NCOSE assisted with the drafting of this historic bill, which is the first partial decriminalization bill in the U.S., increasing penalties on sex buyers while providing an escape route for survivors.
- California signed into law SB14, which classifies child sex trafficking as a serious felony, allowing state authorities to pursue life sentences under its “three strikes” law in some cases. NCOSE helped draft the bill and provide support for its passage.
There are many more victories from 2023 that we’re excited to celebrate with you!
View the full 2023 Gratitude Report here
We are so encouraged by the progress made in 2023, but know there is still a lot more we can accomplish together. Please consider a gift to make 2024 even more impactful!
