RESOURCES:
Anyone experiencing or aware of online exploitation is encouraged to report to the Cybertipline at report. cybertip.org.
from electronic service providers, which are required by law to report child sexual abuse material flagged on their platforms.
What makes NCMEC’S mission more difficult, according to Coffren, is the lack of consistent protocols across platforms for the detection of exploitative material. While companies are legally obligated to report sex abuse material, their methods for identifying these instances vary across the board.
“There’s no standards in the industry,” Coffren said. “It’d be nice to see more best practices companies have to adhere to to market their products.”
In January, prominent social media CEOS testified in a hearing on child exploitation on Capitol Hill. Well-known industry figures like Mark Zuckerberg faced senators who accused companies like Meta, Tiktok and X of providing a space for child abuse online. Additionally, according to some parental advocates in attendance, content promoted on these platforms perpetuated eating disorders, self-harm and the sexualization of children.
“We would agree, I think all of us in [the lab], that those companies need to do more to protect their children users,” said Detective Stephanie Sears. “Just because of what we’ve seen.”
Digital Forensics Lab detectives visited Lafayette’s Dawson High School in early February to present online safety tips to a class of 10th graders. They addressed topics like cyberbullying, online enticement and social media safety with the intent of preventing online victimization of high schoolers.
However, the lab’s investigators also pushed the importance of parental awareness of these issues and encouraged open discussions between parents and their children about digital safety and online etiquette.
“The earlier that you can begin those conversations with a kid, I think the less likely they are to make those mistakes or to be groomed or to be extorted,” said Detective Sophie Berman.
Any rules parents make to protect their children online, Berman said, won’t be that dissimilar from safety rules in the real world.
“You wouldn’t send your 12-year-old to go meet a stranger on the street. But parents and people think that because there’s a device blocking you physically from that person that it’s safer but that’s really not even the case,” she said.
Coffren stressed NCMEC as both a preventative and response resource for parents and children. She encouraged victims or witnesses to utilize the Cybertipline and NCMEC’S support resources that help with removing content, accessing mental health support and finding an attorney.
“If a kid makes a mistake, they’re going to be worried about getting in trouble. So where do they turn?” Coffren said. “One of the things that NCMEC tries to do is be a safe space for parents and kids to figure out what to do.”
Additionally, the lab’s detectives stressed that there are protective measures parents can take to safeguard their kids.
“It starts in the home,” said Sears. “With parents or their guardian or just someone they feel that they can open up to.”
Berman added that she believes stopping online exploitation will take a large movement of parents aware of the dangers facing their children online who will prevent their kids from accessing the internet at a young age.
“It’s going to take a bigger group of parents to step up and do that tough parenting that no one likes to do and say, ‘You know what, yeah you might hate me for a couple of years because you don’t have a phone but, guess what, you’re safe. I’m keeping you safe,’” Berman said.