Jake Roberson
Vice President and Director of Communications
As vice president and director of communications, including leading creative and digital strategy, Jake’s work with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation is to expose and subvert the complex web of sexual exploitation’s interconnectivity by developing relevant tactics which leverage digital mediums as a means to reach, engage, convert, develop, and activate new allies for the fight to end sexual exploitation in all its forms.
Articles by Jake Roberson
Only a few fans at Super Bowl LV? That’s no problem for sex traffickers.
The fact that Super Bowl LV, a game featuring Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs squaring off against Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will likely long hold the record for the fewest fans in attendance at a Super Bowl would be a problem for sex traffickers… if commonly held misperceptions about sex trafficking…
Issue: Sex Trafficking
Accusations Against John Weaver a Reminder of the Sexual Exploitation Faced by Boys and Men
The accusations of sexual harassment—including allegations which appear to describe the grooming of a teenage boy—leveled against John Weaver, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, represent yet another tragic reminder of a reality which has long gone underreported even as far too many people have lived it: 1) sexual abuse and exploitation are perpetrated in all…
Out of the Shadows: Addressing the Exploitation of Boys and Men
BREAKING: Credit Card Companies Still Funding Pornhub via MindGeek’s TrafficJunky
[UPDATE – 12/15/2020] The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) received confirmation from Visa executives on December 15, 2020, that that their “financial institution partners who serve MindGeek have suspended processing of Visa payments for Pornhub and its affiliated merchants pending completion of [Visa’s] on-going investigation.” NCOSE has not yet heard back from Mastercard. It…
2020 Dirty Dozen List
Pornhub Falling: Visa and Mastercard Cut Ties with MindGeek’s Cash Cow
With Visa and Mastercard’s closely-spaced announcements about cutting ties with Pornhub (Visa’s technically only committed to suspending payment processing for Pornhub pending an outcome in Visa’s own investigation) on December 10, 2020, the façade of impunity surrounding MindGeek’s internationally known and inherently exploitative cash cow has begun crumbling in earnest. Visa and Mastercard have made…
2020 Dirty Dozen List
No, Pornhub Cannot Be Improved or Reformed
Pornhub has announced so-called improvements in the wake of its criminal nature being further exposed by Nicholas Kristof in his blistering piece for the New York Times entitled “The Children of Pornhub” which pulled the curtain back on Pornhub’s profiteering from child sexual abuse material. The announced updates from the MindGeek-owned “porn tube site” would…
#ShutItDown
VICTORY! TikTok Updated Its Safety Features. Here’s How They Work.
Just a few weeks after our public announcement about TikTok being named to the 2020 Dirty Dozen List, the social media company announced that they would soon begin rolling out improvements to TikTok’s safety features—including some updates we had been advocating for them to make! Although there are still several safety improvements they need to…
2020 Dirty Dozen List
EARN IT Act Can Both Protect Kids and Respect User Privacy, Encryption
This article regarding the EARN IT Act is about the originally published version of the legislation. For the most up-to-date information about the version of the EARN IT Act that was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, please read more here. The EARN IT Act is designed to foster a safer online experience for children…
Issue: Child Sexual Exploitation
Orlando Bloom: Porn is “just so destructive.”
We can add another voice to Team Science after Orlando Bloom spoke out strongly about the harms of pornography in an in-depth interview with The Sunday Times. “Porn is super-disruptive to your sex life, to your libido. They’ve done the studies, they can’t find any kids who don’t watch it…It’s just so destructive,” said the…
Issue: Pornography Harms
EARN IT Act Will Help Protect Children from Online Sexual Exploitation
UPDATE: This article regarding the EARN IT Act is about the originally published version of the legislation. For the most up-to-date information about the version of the EARN IT Act that was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, please read more here. Why is the EARN IT Act important? Online child sexual exploitation is devastatingly…
Issue: Child Sexual Exploitation
The National Center’s Demand Reduction Meeting with the U.S. Domestic Policy Council
Staff members from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, including president and CEO Patrick Trueman and Michael Shively, Ph.D. (both pictured above), were able to spend time with the Domestic Policy Council of the United States this week in order to educate them on the importance of demand reduction in the fight against sexual exploitation….
Issue: Prostitution – Bright Light on the Red Light
The Global #Traffickinghub Campaign Against Pornhub, Explained
Pornhub, the focus of the #Traffickinghub campaign which began getting traction and widespread awareness in early 2020, is owned by a seemingly-nondescript “technology” company called MindGeek. Operating as what is known as a “porn aggregator tube site,” Pornhub is one of the most-visited pornographic websites in the world. (It also ranks as one of the most-visited…
2019 Dirty Dozen: The Watch List – Department of Justice
Pornhub and Free Porn Are Neither “Good” Nor “Nice”
In a video uploaded to the YouTube channel for Team CoCo on January 28, 2020, actor and activist Kumail Nanjiani bragged and joked at length about the free 10-year subscription to Pornhub Premium that he received from the MindGeek-owned pornography site after images of the muscular physique he developed for his role as Kingo in the…
Issue: Pornography Harms
The Super Bowl and America’s Hidden Sex Trafficking Epidemic
The Super Bowl has a significant sex trafficking problem. In 2019 alone, according to the FBI, 169 individuals were arrested in connection with sex trafficking during an 11-day operation that was undertaken in conjunction with Super Bowl LIII which was being held in Atlanta. However, as deeply problematic as the trafficking that occurs around large…
Issue: Prostitution – Bright Light on the Red Light
Blind Eyes Opened: America has a massive sex trafficking epidemic
One of the problems encountered in the movement to end sexual exploitation is the fact that many people—most people, perhaps—aren’t aware of the problem, let alone the size of the problem. Even if and when they are aware of the problem, a common assumption is that sex trafficking is a problem “somewhere else.” Blind Eyes…
Issue: Child Sexual Exploitation
The State of the Fight to End Sexual Exploitation in 2019-2020
The fight to end sexual exploitation is massive and multifaceted, and 2019 was a year filled with victories and building momentum that bodes well for the movement in 2020 and beyond. These powerful moments and momentum from 2019 would not have been possible without passionate advocates and allies being willing to join together to take…
2020 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation (CESE) Global Summit
CBS News Admits Porn is Hijacking the Sexuality of America’s Children
In a significant development for the movement to end sexual exploitation, including the public health crisis of pornography, a CBSN Originals documentary from CBS News called “Speaking Frankly: Porn” is exposing the massive and disquieting impact pornography is having on children and teens across the United States. Although the findings of the documentary are not…
Issue: Child Sexual Exploitation
Industry Experts Sound Alarm on Emerging Threats to Online Child Safety at NCOSE Symposium
Online child safety should be top of mind for all of us—not just parents. We protect children from undue harm and exploitation from harmful industries elsewhere—such as the tobacco industry—but our systems and laws have not kept pace with technological advancement and our children’s well-being is at severe risk as a result. That reality was…
Events
Kanye West: “[Porn addiction] affected almost every choice I made”
The research about the public health harms of pornography is clear, and now celebrity after public figure after icon — the latest being Kanye West — are increasingly willing to be vocal about the harms of pornography that they’ve personally witnessed and experienced. “Playboy was my gateway into full-blown pornography addiction,” Kanye West told Zane…
Issue: Pornography Harms
Girls Do Porn’s Exploitation and Trafficking Are Not an Anomaly
As the owners and key employees of Girls Do Porn are facing federal counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, the porn industry is desperately trying to distance itself from the fact that it profits off of and is inherently intertwined with sexual exploitation, abuse, and trafficking. Even media outlets such as VICE,…
2021 Dirty Dozen List: Visa – Watch List
Child Sexual Abuse Images Are Flooding the Internet and (Almost) No One is Fighting Back
Child sexual abuse images, often referred to colloquially as “child pornography,” are illegal. The distribution of adult obscene pornography—including online—is illegal. The exploitation of child sexual abuse images and the porn industry are demonstrably and inextricably intertwined. Yet, even as NGOs and law enforcement continually report how badly the fight is being lost in the…
2019 Dirty Dozen_ The Watch List – DOJ – Defend Justice
The Dangers of Sugar Dating and Sugaring, Explained
What is “sugar dating”? And how exactly does it relate to “sugaring”? Does it have anything to do with these “sugar babies” and “sugar daddies” you keep hearing about? Is “sugar dating” actually a form of dating? Is “sugaring” prostitution? These questions and more are becoming increasingly prevalent as websites and apps attempting to promote…
2021 Dirty Dozen List: Seeking Arrangement
Jeffrey Epstein’s Death is an Injustice to Survivors that Cannot Be Ignored
Jeffrey Epstein is dead. We long for the justice that will roll down like waters for survivors of the crimes—the atrocities—committed by Jeffrey Epstein. Until then, though, the delay of justice that is Jeffrey Epstein’s death by apparent suicide is yet another bitter injustice for survivors. In life—and, tragically, again now in death—Jeffrey Epstein carved…
Issue: Child Sexual Exploitation
Jeffrey Epstein Proved Why Teen Vogue’s “Sex Work is Real Work” is Harmful
Not many people are as unfathomably wealthy as Jeffrey Epstein was. But, in a gut-wrenching tragedy of twisted logic, there is an increasing amount of advocacy in favor of allowing people to buy sex like Jeffrey Epstein did–because, according to Teen Vogue (among others), “sex work is real work.” Even as public awareness and pressure…
Issue: Prostitution – Bright Light on the Red Light