EARN IT Act Has Teeth: Only Option in Congress for Online Child Protection
There is a lot of misinformation being spread by the technology industry regarding the EARN IT Act (S. 3398 / H.R. 8454). In the face of rising levels of child sexual abuse material being distributed and consumed online, the EARN IT Act is legislation that seeks to allow U.S. citizens to hold technology companies accountable…
Help Us Pass the EARN IT Act in the U.S. Senate
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the EARN IT Act Thursday, July 2, in a full committee markup of the bill. Introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators in March 2020, the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act, S. 3398) is designed to increase Big Tech accountability for two…
International Coalition Calls on Major Card Companies to Cease Work with Porn Industry
As detailed in coverage from the BBC, an international coalition of child safety and anti-sexual exploitation organizations and advocates—spearheaded by our newly-launched International Centre on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE)—has launched a trailblazing grassroots advocacy campaign against the exploitative hardcore pornography industry by sending a joint letter to major credit card and payment processing companies. The letter…
Teen Vogue Encouraging Minors to Sexually Exploit Themselves on Snapchat
In mid-March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Teen Vogue (which has a troubling history with teenagers and sexual exploitation) posted a Snapchat Discover story about sexting under the guise of helping teenagers sustain their relationships from a distance. In case Teen Vogue has forgotten what a “teen” is: Teen (noun): relating to teenagers…
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…
The Research-backed Links Between Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse is an atrocity that goes against the very nature of human dignity. While this appears to be widely known and agreed upon, something that many around the world don’t know is the role pornography plays in fueling child sexual abuse. Yet, when taking into account the common themes of mainstream pornography, which…
Google’s YouTube Losing Advertisers Over Monetizing Sexually Exploitive Videos
According to Bloomberg, the Walt Disney Co., Nestle, and “Fortnite” creator Epic Games, Inc. are suspending advertising on YouTube after mounting concerns about the platform being used for the eroticization of children and for pedophile networking. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is calling on YouTube to remove all pornography from its platform, and to…
Netflix Streams Apparent Child Pornography Scene
Netflix is receiving public backlash for streaming a film with a scene that appears to amount to child pornography. The film in question is an Argentinian movie called Desire, and according to PJ Media, it portrays a 9-year-old girl masturbating with a pillow and includes close-up shots of her face during orgasm as a 7-year-old girl watches….
Mark Salling Case: An Opportunity to Reflect on the Harms of Pornography
According to news reports, Glee star Mark Salling is dead at age 35 from an apparent suicide. Salling pleaded guilty to possession of over 50,000 images of child pornography in 2017. He was awaiting his sentencing and was facing up to seven years in prison. As a talented, successful, prominent young man, Mark Salling does not fit…
The Youngest Children Often Suffer the Worst Sexual Abuse
A recent study by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) demonstrates a shocking and devastating correlation between age and severity of sexual abuse endured by children and minors. In the images IWF analyzed between January 2014 and September 2017: 63 percent of child sexual abuse material showing children aged zero to two was category A (define),…