NCMEC releases guidelines to help online platforms detect sexually exploited kids

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is releasing guidelines for online platforms to help them comply with a new law revolutionizing efforts to combat online child sexual exploitation, specifically child sex trafficking and online enticement.

The internet has become a thriving marketplace to sell children for sex and provides offenders with easy access to children to entice them to meet in person for sexual acts and to extort them for sexual images or money. These guidelines are intended to help online platforms play a crucial role in protecting children by recognizing key signs and indicators of child sexual exploitation.

The bi-partisan bill, known as the "REPORT Act," was enacted in May and gave NCMEC the opportunity to issue guidelines for U.S.- based online platforms that are now required to report child sex trafficking and online enticement to NCMEC's CyberTipline.  Click here to download the Guidelines. Prior to passage of the new law, online platforms were not required to report these crimes.

"Adult offenders often groom children and teens in such a way that makes it hard, if not impossible, for them to see through the lies and false promises," said Michelle DeLaune, president and CEO of NCMEC. "Being required to report suspected online enticement and child sex trafficking will allow online platforms to become a first line of defense to safeguard child victims."

The CyberTipline is the U.S. designated mechanism for reporting suspected online child sexual exploitation. NCMEC leveraged the information available in millions of missing and exploited child reports made by online platforms, law enforcement, child welfare, parents and survivors to develop the REPORT Act guidance. NCMEC's unique perspective, driven by actual reports, was further informed by a group of adult survivors with lived experience relating to child sexual exploitation.

Among other significant improvements, the REPORT Act enhances efforts to identify child victims in Child Sexual Abuse Material, provides more support to survivors and improves their ability to seek restitution against offenders. It also extends the time online platforms must retain content from 90 days to one year to give law enforcement more time to investigate the relentless stream of reports.

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and John Ossoff and Congresswomen Laurel Lee and Madeleine Dean co-sponsored the REPORT Act.

To learn more about online child sexual exploitation and the CyberTipline, go to www.ncmec.org.

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SOURCE The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children