Protecting Children Through the EARN IT Act

Family policy matters in engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters Tracy to vet bricks. Thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters. Technology companies may soon be held more accountable for the part they play even inadvertently in child sexual exploitation US Senate Judiciary committee unanimously approved a bill called the Barnett act, which seeks to address the widespread availability of child sexual abuse material on digital formats and the use of those platforms to entice groom traffic and abuse children and it stands for.

Eliminating abusive and rampant neglect of interactive technologies will Dr. Eleanor Gaia time is the director of public policy at the National Center on sexual exploitation, which is been working very hard on this landmark bill she joins us today to talk about the details of the Barnett act and what's next for its passage. Dr. Gaia time. Welcome to family policy matters.

Thank you so much Tracy. So first of all how big of a problem is child exploitation here in the United States.

We don't know exactly how many kids are affected, but certainly thousands if not tens of thousands of children are impacted.

Member the different forms of child sexual exploitation focus on just to child pornography, which we now call child sexual abuse material exam absolutely exploded on the Internet. Why well the common observations are that it's now available, affordable, and anonymous sex trafficking, and that includes the sexual location of children, regardless of whether that in Europe but they wanted to work in a strip club that's considered sex trafficking because no one under 18 had ability to consent to their own explication in the commercial sex industry. This bill targets technology company. So what role do they play in the exploitation of children. Unfortunately big hack is a big perpetrator in this arena. The biggest wealthiest US-based global company and the tech giants simply don't do enough to protect the safety of our kids, like diving into prevent predators from, for example, being able to message kids on messenger SB spend more money trying to encrypt Facebook messenger and that will make the risk harder to find primarily what the plaque on Instagram with sailor Snapchat you is that they allow interactive conversations in real time with people that don't even really know what the kind of another kit right so typical creditor will identify themselves as someone in high school to an area not so you with too many cases in which creditors are are working on platforms or even gaming platforms and have access to kids, engage with kids and, for example, asked him to take pictures of themselves and then use those pictures as leverage control to get more images or to invite the person to me elsewhere. Let's move on to what were trying to do about that or what your organization is trying to do.

Tell us about that Senate Judiciary hearing in 2019. That started the development of the spell exactly year ago. The National Center on sexual exploitation helps the Senate Judiciary committee producing hearing what experts around the country and protecting innocence in a digital world, everyone attended. It was a hot July day and the Republicans all came to the hearing to discuss the dangers to kids and the lack of best practices on one night we heard testimony from Elwood great organization protect young eyes. For example, that point about why so hard for us parents to set up the filters maintain the filters yet. Talk settings you could set the tick-tock at the privacy 30 days later that evaporated the parent or guardian or an adult in a kids life had to reset those complicated. There are multiple steps to take to set a filter so different allies were pointing out the fact that company should do more to make these filters easy to use readily available, why aren't they so kind of topics that were discussed in the center by the revelation that there are so few protection against predatory behavior on the Internet intended consequences in the law and one really grave unintended consequence flows from the communications decency act of 1996 that should really be called the conclusion indecency act because it gave immunity Company for whatever happened on its platform is another ball proved in 1998 children's online privacy protection act that established the age of digital 13 now we know that voting is really too young, digital, adult, 15, 16, �17 are not adult in any other way.

So I they adult online anyway. Last July, the Senate started looking into this and by March the just this past March they produce a difficult Barnett act. Basically it said companies need to learn the immunity that they had received through this CDA section 230, we considered it a good bill. Have a safe harbor provision that said that company that could demonstrate that they were working hard and doing their best could keep that immunity was the big old overplayed their hand. They thought this really reasonable solution to and nailed a claim. The sky was falling, and they were doing very little to prevent that stuff. So really big tech fighting against the reasonable solution bipartisan unanimously. 22 senators came together on July 2 and said you know what I need to lose community totally loses immunity for this child pornography. There are millions and millions of images online community on that stuff was the stronger the deal was made stronger earlier this month because did not play games anymore.

The state and victims have the right to hold accountable tech companies for child sexual abuse material. Just like Walmart is held accountable if you succumb their fall and saw it in our country the way we get accountability you can even bring the cases of harm in the courts okay so is that, practically speaking, how to earn an act is going to protect children by allowing parents to sue. Are there other ways as well. Both victims and states cannot fight back.

Taking companies support for the harm they cause. It also creates that immediate threat of enforcement.

Also the new bill allows states our 50 states plus DC have the right to set standards that are appropriate for their residence on an act. Balance the need to protect children with First Amendment privacy and contract rights, and this is a topic that we talk about a lot and a lot of different arenas right, but remember when pornography was a physical thing mainly magazines.

For example, and it is illegal to sell both the minor but did that interrupt or undermine free speech course. This bill puts physical obscenity and Internet at the same level on the tech company still speaking out in opposition to this legislation as it moves through and who else might be opposed to this and will see two weeks ago. The Senate Judiciary Committee together and did what they call marking up the bill and really strengthened that strangely most of the tech class called it a watering down of the bill.

I don't understand that might be just misunderstanding because the bill also creates a new national commission on online child sexual exploitation prevention mouthful, but it really goes to the problem that change is so rapid and things are happening so fast and pop up overnight like I think tick-tock don't let your kids have tick-tock on the front really dangerous And overnight right so that national commission. This new national commission will be able to with the help of engineers and advocates and tech reps create guidelines for all of us that will help guide judges and state legislatures and lawyers, prosecutors, that is still in the belt used to have more power in the first version of the bill. So I guess tech big tech is saying because that new commission is less powerful. The bill was watered down. Absolutely not strengthened because it really just cuts the ties of community that work texting big tech for too long, especially on child pornography. So, are there other SX on human trafficking, technology, the adult film industry and other similar activities that were going to be seeing in the Barnett act becomes law. Tracy, please don't talk about the adult film industry phrase that normalizes the liquidation of women adult film industry was invented by pornographers satisfied. Let's hope that the federal government begins prosecuting some of these platforms. For example minded geek the world's biggest platform of obscenity and pornography we have found hundreds of instances of sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material uploaded and and freely accessible. There are no verifications that there's consensus federal government haven't touched why not were not sure. Are there other SX then that will will see that will come from passing the Barnett act hopefully were going to get more accountability in this new commission will begin creating reasonable guidelines that help all of us manage the power of the Internet right now like the wild wild West. So we still have several steps to go before the Barnett act would become law.

What are those and what you think is the likelihood that the bill will become law. Bill will become law if everyone listening to this broadcast contact their senators and said please cosponsor this we need to protect our kids right now. I think there are 12 cosponsors in the Senate, we need your warlike 30 cosponsors before the leadership will bring it up so the pressure senators to cosponsor it and the house side will have to deal with the tube so helping at the Senate really gets behind.

The only piece of legislation that really addresses the online risks kids and if we get into the Senate. The house will see that power and want to move to.

So where can parents go to learn more about all of these important issues connote ironic thing is, you won't find anything from a Google search.

One of the tragedies of the power of a Google is that they can control the algorithm you Google search Barnett act get pages of negativity and it really is kind of eye-opener on the power of Google to shake the information you receive. Talk about curbing your person in the right right right the public@thecozy.com that public key you belic@ncosd.com right to the Senate Judiciary page. If you Google Senate Judiciary Committee has an excellent material describing the bill. So in the meantime while were waiting to see what happens with this.

What can parents do to be proactive on this issue.

Experts agree the most important thing is to be engaged with your children and the children to give my team. Kids up to eight. The brain is well enough developed to make executive decisions about what's good for them and what not good for them. So talking to kids about the habitable fact that they will see pornography that will run into it on the Internet and they need to turn away. It's dangerous.

It harms the brain that is brain science that is proven to be engaged with your kids need to know what are they looking at what searches are they doing what they using and asked him to show you how they're using the curious be engaged and then when you tell your kids you know if you see people who work make it online. Good for you, tell me about it and you have to be nonjudgmental about that cotton crickets trust you, consult with you. Show and share with you that the way of prevention can be awkward to be awkward conversation but there must do because 80% of all kids have wanted to pornography. By the time the 14 online will Dr. Eleanor Guy Anton, director of public policy at the National Center on sexual exploitation. Thank you so much for being with us today on family policy matters. Thank you so much Tracy you been listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program employment to them again next week to listen to the show online and to learn more about into families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across Carlotta or website it into family.work that's into family.org. Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family