FBI employees assigned to the NCMEC work to identify individuals suspected of any of the following: possession, manufacture and/or distribution of child sexual abuse material; online enticement of children for sexual acts; child sexual tourism; and/or other sexual exploitation of children. Once a potential suspect has been identified, investigators compile information and forward it to the appropriate FBI field office for investigation.
Doing More to Address Child Sexual Abuse Materials Online
The VCACITF (formerly known as the Innocent Images International Task Force) became operational in 2004 and serves as the largest task force of its kind in the world, composed of 68 online child sexual exploitation investigators from almost 46 countries. A five-week training session for newly invited task force officers brings them to the United States to work side-by-side with FBI agents in the Violent Crimes Against Children program. The VCACITF also conducts an annual case coordination meeting where task force members come together in a central location to share best practices and coordinate transnational investigations between members.
Studies have shown that the majority of those possessing and distributing CSAM also commit hands-on sexual offenses against minors. Most of the time, the abuse has been committed by someone that the child knows and trusts. Offenders often use grooming techniques to normalize sexual contact and encourage secrecy.
In 1998, with the help of a private donation and after receiving an increase in reports relating to the online sexual exploitation of children, NCMEC created the CyberTipline. The CyberTipline provides an online mechanism for members of the public and electronic service providers (ESPs) to report incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation including:
In addition, NCMEC is committed to addressing the long-term needs of survivors of CSAM by providing resources and avenues for the continuum of care after the abuse has stopped. NCMEC is creating a network of mental health therapists that specialize in CSAM cases, education for legal professionals on how to seek restitution and represent survivors in court, and increasing awareness of the unique and sensitive nature of this crime to law enforcement and other child advocates. Our hope is that this holistic approach will provide the continuing and ever-changing support survivors need in the years following the abuse.
A NCMEC analyst assigned to the report viewed multiple images, which appeared to be unfamiliar, and a chat log suggesting the reported user was enticing the child victim to sexually molest her toddler-aged relative. After querying the CyberTipline with the information submitted by the ESP, it appeared the reported user was associated with multiple other reports and had possibly been aggressively enticing multiple children to produce child pornography. The email addresses provided by the ESP linked to a social media profile including a location and possible gang affiliation. Based on the uploaded content and chat log, NCMEC staff prioritized the report.
The 11 Voluntary Principles establish a baseline framework for companies that provide online services to deter use of the Internet as a tool for sexually exploiting and abusing children. The six technology companies involved in this initiative have now publicly endorsed the Principles, and I commend them for their leadership.
The sexual exploitation and abuse of children is one of the most horrendous crimes affecting the most vulnerable members of society. Unfortunately, this has emerged as a massive problem not only in the real world, but also in the virtual one. Last year alone, more than 16.8 million CyberTips of suspected child sexual abuse material offenses were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), involving children as young as infants.
Earlier today at the White House, we heard from members of the Phoenix 11, which is the group responsible for the powerful video you just watched. Phoenix 11 is an organization of survivors whose child sexual abuse was recorded and, in the majority of cases, distributed online. I commend these brave survivors for raising the profile of this issue. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to them for their courage in coming forward and telling their stories. They have given a voice to victims who have been silenced. They inspire us to take action, and we are thankful for their fearless and unrelenting efforts.
No child should ever have to endure the unspeakable pain and suffering of sexual exploitation and abuse. Sadly, however, technological change over the past few decades has amplified the scope and harm caused by these crimes.
Second, technology has made it easier to produce, conceal, and distribute child sexual abuse materials. For example, over the last decade, the Department of Justice has seen a 160-percent increase in cases involving the production of videos and images of children who were sexually exploited and abused. This increase is due in part to the ready accessibility of smart phones, which can be used to both produce images and videos and distribute them online.
Third, with digital content, sexual-abuse imagery can be preserved online for much longer periods of time and disseminated more broadly. Victims incur not only the initial harm of abuse, but are victimized again and again when those images are recirculated. For example, sexual abuse imagery of one particular victim has been found in almost 21,500 separate U.S. investigations over the last 20 years. As we heard this morning from the courageous survivors in the Phoenix 11, knowing that their child sexual abuse material is still online is debilitating, preventing some from even being able to use the Internet. Victims should not be forced to live in such fear.
This is the first time that our five nations have collaborated in this way with technology companies to protect children against online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Voluntary Principles that we are announcing today have already been implemented informally by some leaders in the industry. Now formalized, they will serve as a baseline for the rest of industry to use, and to build upon, as they assess their current vulnerabilities and design new products and services.
The Voluntary Principles are an important first step, but we can and must do more. The department, for one, is prioritizing combating child sexual exploitation and abuse in our prosecution efforts. We are also addressing child exploitation in our efforts on lawful access and in analyzing the impact of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act on incentives for platforms to address such crimes and the availability of civil remedies to the victims.
The Safe Online network provides grantees and partners a collaborative space to share knowledge, evidence and good practices. The Safe Online Network Forum was held on 30-31st May at Brussels, Belgium and brought together over 40 grantees and partners from across the world alongside donors, and industry representatives from the Tech Coalition in a unique opportunity aligned around a common vision to end online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). Read more here. The previous Grantee Convening took place in 2019 and was key in strengthening collaboration, learning and creating new partnership opportunities
Grantee convening: Safe Online held its first grantee convening from 8-10 December 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The grantee convening provided a platform for organisations across the world to come together, share their resources and experiences, and strengthen the field of child online safety. Nearly 50 individuals attended the convening, representing 38 grantee organisations from 33 projects. To learn more about the grantee convening, watch the videos and read the recap report, which highlights the learnings, solutions and challenges brought to light over the course of the event.
Among the findings assessing the orgs' responses, the commissioner found Microsoft isn't using the PhotoDNA image-detection technology it helped to develop and promotes as a tool "to stop the spread of online child sexual abuse photos."
"Apple and Microsoft also reported that they do not use any technology to detect live-streaming of child sexual abuse in video chats on Skype, Microsoft Teams or FaceTime, despite the extensive use of Skype, in particular, for this long-standing and proliferating crime."
The Invest in Child Safety Act would direct $5 billion in mandatory funding to investigate and target the predators and abusers who create and share child sexual abuse material online. It also directs substantial new funding for community-based efforts to prevent children from becoming victims in the first place. And it would create a new White House office to coordinate efforts across federal agencies, after DOJ refused to comply with a 2008 law requiring coordination and reporting of those efforts.
The US hosts more child sexual abuse content online than any other country in the world, new research has found. The US accounted for 30% of the global total of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) URLs at the end of March 2022, according to the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based organization that works to spot and take down abusive content.
The volume of CSAM increased dramatically across the globe during the pandemic as both children and predators spent more time online than ever before. Child protection experts, including the anti-child-trafficking organization Thorn and INHOPE, a global network of 50 CSAM hotlines, predict the problem will only continue to grow.
Online child sexual exploitation is one of the most disturbing public safety issues facing society today. It continues to harm past and present generations of children in Canada and abroad. Child sexual exploitation online includes:
Public Safety Canada also provides contribution funding to various organizations, including the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to operate Cybertip.ca, where Canadians can report suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation. 2ff7e9595c
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