Friend,
The online sexual exploitation of children has risen at an alarming rate in recent years.
Internet predators and traffickers have easy and anonymous access to vulnerable and unsuspecting children, who often fall into the predator’s grooming trap and are seduced into sending sexual images of themselves. Online grooming is one of the many tactics used by predators to create child sex abuse material (CSAM), previously referred to as child pornography.
Their suffering is not a one-time crime. Instead, any time the depiction of their abuse is sold, shared, posted online, bartered or used privately for a consumer’s sexual gratification, the crime against the victim is repeated.
In 2021, more than 29.3 million CyberTipline reports were made containing over 84.9 million images, videos and other content related to suspected child sexual exploitation, an increase of 35% from 2020.
Sadly, millions of children and families have suffered while multi-billion-dollar electronic service providers refuse to do their part to keep kids safe on their platforms. Big Tech continues to avoid accountability and legal recourse by claiming “blanket immunity” from any responsibility.
Instead of protecting children, greedy internet platforms knowingly allow minors to be abused and exploited — That’s why Enough Is Enough® (EIE) strongly advocates for the passage of the bipartisan bill, Earn It Act (S. 3538) which is being cosponsored by 22 Senators and is pending in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
If enacted, this critical piece of bi-partisan legislation will remove blanket immunity for social media and technology companies that knowingly facilitate the distribution of CSAM on its platforms. This priority bill gives victims of CSAM the chance to restore their privacy and get justice from those who facilitated the crimes committed against them.
Together, we must urge Congress to act immediately to protect our kids from devastating online risks that can ruin their lives.
