I recently talked with Dawn Hawkins, the CEO of National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). She and her staff work diligently for child safety by exposing the links between all forms of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. (Be sure to read her impressive bio.) I admire her determination and passion and agreed to help NCOSE however I can. To that end, I asked Dawn to update us on their recent doings and give us advice on what we can do to keep our children safe online.
With the advent of smartphones, most kids carry around amazing technology in their pockets all the time. While this allows for communication with family and friends, constant access to the internet also means predators have unprecedented access to groom and exploit children.
Parents are Overwhelmed!
As parents, we are always trying our best to protect our kids from both physical and online dangers, but it can be overwhelming when there are so many platforms and new technologies. You are already doing so much! The fact that you’re here shows that you are searching for the best ways to help protect and advocate for your children. This is a great resource!
Still, even with great resources and the support of other concerned parents, it can be overwhelming. And it’s also not fair. These big tech companies have created platforms with ineffective, insufficient safety measures that don’t really work. They have created platforms for kids that enable grooming, sex trafficking, exposure to pornography, and the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse materials.
But it shouldn’t just be the responsibility of kids or already overwhelmed parents to keep them safe online! It’s time to hold these companies accountable for the harm they have caused and demand real change. And it’s long past time for tech companies to stop prioritizing profits over child safety.
How Parents Can Demand More Power to Protect Kids
Every year, The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) names twelve mainstream corporations that facilitate, enable, and even profit from sexual abuse and exploitation to the Dirty Dozen List. This campaign seeks to name and shame dangerous companies and to demand they do better. We invite you to join us in calling on these companies to improve child safety on their platforms!
Apple: Fix App Ratings
The Apple App Store was named to the Dirty Dozen List for deceptive app ratings and descriptions that mislead parents about the risks and dangers to children on available apps. Documented dangers on apps include exposure to adult strangers, harmful content, illegal drug activity, easy access to explicit content, and an explosion of financial sextortion. Caregivers cannot trust and rely on App Store age ratings and descriptions to determine what apps are safe for their children when these dangers are not reflected. Call on Apple to fix app ratings here.
Roblox: Demand They Stop Letting Adults Message Kids
Roblox, a popular gaming platform whose user base is 60% kids under the age of 16, exposes children to predators and inappropriate content. In December 2022, a 13-year-old-boy in Utah was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by an abuser he met on Roblox. Thankfully, authorities found him and brought him home, but tragically, this is not an isolated incident. There are countless children who have been sexually abused and exploited by predators on Roblox, yet they still allow adult strangers to message and “friend” children.
Discord: Remove Child Sexual Abuse Materials
Discord is a messaging platform that has been used to groom children and to find and trade child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). This platform enables exploiters to directly contact and groom children and it has shockingly ineffective parental controls, despite its popularity with teens, especially gamers. Several children have been exploited by strangers who contacted them on Discord.
You can make a difference by contacting your legislators to support child safety legislation like the EARN IT Act. ~ Dawn Hawkins, CEO NCOSE Calling for Corporate Change to Protect Kids Online #childsafety #onlinesafety #NCOSE Click To TweetAsk Your Legislators to Vote Yes on Earn It Act
In addition to reaching out to these companies directly, another way you can make a difference is by contacting your legislators to support child safety legislation. The EARN IT Act is the most important child protection legislation pending before Congress this year! This bill protects kids online by clarifying there is NO IMMUNITY for social media and tech companies that knowingly allow the distribution of child sexual abuse materials, and gives victims a path to justice and restoring their privacy. You can learn more about this bipartisan legislation and email your members of congress to support the bill here.
Your Voice Matters!
When parents join together, we see massive victories like:
- Google Chromebooks, which once exposed kids to pornography on school devices, defaulted to safety by implementing age-based access settings on devices for K–12 students.
- Discord confirmed that it is testing parental controls after being on the Dirty Dozen List for the past three years.
- Meta is starting a task force to investigate how Instagram facilitates the sale of child sexual abuse material.
- Apple recently announced that they would start automatically blurring nudity for kids 12 and under, with the tool available as an opt-in feature for teens and adults.
It’s thanks to moms and caregivers like you that these companies are finally starting to listen! Your voices are powerful, and together we will continue to win even more victories for our children’s safety!
About the author
Dawn Hawkins
Dawn Hawkins is CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the leading organization exposing the connections between all forms of sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and child sexual abuse. Dawn’s energy, creativity and mobilization skills are deployed to build a world free from sexual violence, with freedom and human dignity for all.
Dawn is deeply committed to bipartisan public policy solutions at the federal and state level. Her issue expertise, visionary initiatives, and innovative strategy have led to groundbreaking change in the legislative arena and in multimillion-dollar corporate policies. She has also envisioned and created a Law Center to challenge sexual exploitation profiteers in the courts.
Dawn has been instrumental in re-imaging the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. She has centered the need to address sex buyer demand for commercial sex, has severely weakened the mainstream pornography industry, and is leading efforts to bring more accountability to technology platforms for child safety.
Dawn has called out and changed corporate entities facilitating exploitation through the annual Dirty Dozen List, fostered a broad international coalition of 600+ organizations, and constantly: advocates for survivors. Her work has sparked change at Google, Hilton Worldwide, Comcast, Walmart, the Department of Defense, Instagram, TikTok, and other influential firms. Dawn has appeared on many television programs, including CNN, Fox & Friends, and Good Morning America. She regularly authors articles and speaks around the country addressing the public health harms of pornography, curbing demand for sex trafficking, protecting children and families in our digital world, and more.
Dawn regularly volunteers for organizations devoted to helping children and refugees. She is a graduate of Tufts University and currently resides with her husband and five children in Virginia.