(InvestigateTV) — Reports of suspected child sex trafficking to a national tipline have increased nearly 1,000 percent following implementation of a federal law requiring online platforms to report suspected crimes, according to lawmakers and child safety advocates.
The bipartisan REPORT Act requires certain online platforms to report suspected child sex trafficking and online enticement to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which operates the CyberTipline.
“By requiring tech companies to report evidence of child trafficking, has resulted in a nearly 1,000 percent increase in reports to the tip line of evidence of child sex trafficking,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, who helped lead the legislation. “That empowers law enforcement to go after those who traffic children.”
NCMEC also tracks “online enticement” cases, where someone tries to lure a child online into sexual acts. Those reports jumped 77 percent in a recent six-month comparison, according to the organization.
Yiota Souras, chief legal officer at NCMEC, said the REPORT Act revealed the scope of online threats to children.
“What The REPORT Act really did is that, it actualized what our team knew was happening online,” Souras said. “So now we are actually getting that information – we’re getting that vital, analytical information.”
Souras recommended parents take active steps to monitor their children’s online activity.
“I think the number one thing is talk to your children, know what sites they’re on, go,” she said. “Sit with them and look at those sites with them, understand what they are, who they’re talking to, who they’re interacting with.”
She emphasized the importance of creating an environment where children feel comfortable reporting uncomfortable online interactions.
“If anything makes them uncomfortable, if they feel like, you know, somebody is interacting with them online, they said or did something online that they now regret or feel uncomfortable with the child, knowing that they can come to an adult, that they can get help,” Souras said.
Lawmakers have also advanced a separate measure aimed at improving federal coordination of anti-trafficking work between the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services.
Parents can make CyberTipline reports through NCMEC’s website.
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