Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Jan 24: Online child sexual exploitation is growing at an unprecedented pace, fueled by social media platforms, encrypted messaging services, and rapidly advancing Artificial Intelligence tools, US lawmakers and child-safety advocates warned during a Congressional hearing.

Chairing the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, Representative Nancy Mace said protecting children online is a rare issue that cuts across political and social divides. “This is something that unites all of us—Democrats, Republicans, parents, grandparents, and everyone in between,” she said.

Ranking member Shontel Brown highlighted how technology has transformed the scale of the threat. She noted that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is now created and circulated at volumes never seen before. “The Internet has made it easier to share these horrific images and videos faster and with a far wider audience,” Brown said.

Stefan Turkheimer, vice president of Public Policy at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), told lawmakers that the crisis is clearly reflected in reports to the National Sexual Assault Hotline. Nearly half a million people contacted the hotline last year, he said, with a sharp rise in calls from children since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Sixty-eight per cent of all hotline calls now involve child sexual abuse,” Turkheimer said, describing the situation as an urgent emergency at the crossroads of technology and child safety.

He also cited data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which received more than 32 million reports of suspected CSAM in 2023 alone. “That number is growing year after year, and it will continue to increase exponentially,” he warned.

Brad Russ, executive director of the National Criminal Justice Training Center, told the panel that law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces received around 675,000 cyber tips last year, creating what he described as an overwhelming workload. “They’re drowning right now,” Russ said, adding that of roughly 71,000 investigative leads, only about 500 were actively being pursued.

Russ also pointed to staffing and funding challenges. Task force members face intense psychological strain, leading to an annual turnover rate of about 25 per cent. Despite the rising threat, he said federal funding for ICAC task forces has remained largely unchanged since 2008, at just over $30 million.

The hearing also examined how offenders manipulate children across digital platforms. Turkheimer explained that predators often lure minors from more moderated environments to encrypted services. “The goal is to move a child from a relatively safer space like Roblox to platforms such as Telegram,” he said.

On the issue of accountability, Turkheimer argued that technology companies lack sufficient incentive to prioritise child safety. “Without liability, there’s no economic reason for them to act,” he said.

Representative Mace warned that delays in action come at a high cost. “Every day without urgent intervention puts more children at risk of exploitation, grooming, sextortion, and lifelong trauma,” she said. Despite the grim statistics, Turkheimer struck a hopeful note, telling lawmakers, “Safety is possible.”

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, established in 1998 with backing from the US Justice Department, coordinates state and local investigations into online child exploitation through federally funded task forces. Meanwhile, NCMEC operates the CyberTipline, the national reporting system for suspected online child sexual exploitation. Under federal law, online service providers are required to report apparent CSAM to NCMEC.