(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s making progress with forcing eight major technology companies to improve how they report possible cases of online sexual exploitation of children, but he says more work needs to be done. Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, says tech giants like Meta, Snapchat and TikTok need to be held accountable to ensure they’re rooting out and forwarding these cases to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Tech companies are required to report suspected cases online of child abuse to this national center,” Grassley says, “but the national center told my office that millions of these reports had data quality issues that may affect law enforcement investigations.” Grassley says Meta alone identified more than 265-million Facebook accounts and another 135-million Instagram accounts that showed potentially suspicious behavior.
Meta says it removed nearly 135-thousand Instagram accounts for leaving sexualized comments or requesting sexual images from minors, as well as another half-million linked Facebook and Instagram accounts. “My oversight complements my legislative work to protect children online through legislation that I titled the James T. Woods Act,” Grassley says. “It’s named after a young person that committed suicide after he was blackmailed online for sex-related stuff on social media.”
The other five companies Grassley contacted back in April are: Amazon, x-A-I, Roblox, Grindr and Discord. “All eight companies responded to my letters and provided updates on how they’re working with the national center to improve their reporting processes,” Grassley says. “I want to ensure these companies meet and maintain proper reporting standards.”
Grassley says those reporting requirements must be in place to prevent abuse, to safeguard children, and to prosecute suspected predators.
