Guest essay: Big tech must help stop the livestreamed abuse of children

CNN

6 days ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Samson Inocencio Jr. is national director for International Justice Mission (IJM) in the Philippines and the regional Vice President of IJM's OSEC Hub, working against the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, I find myself holding two truths in tension: deep despair and profound hope. After more than two decades fighting human trafficking in the Philippines, I have witnessed both the unthinkable harm inflicted on children `– and the extraordinary progress made to stop it.
Right now, at an alarming scale, sex offenders from around the world conspire online with traffickers in countries like the Philippines, paying to livestream the sexual abuse of children as directed by the offenders in real time. As part of International Justice Mission (IJM), I lead a team in the Philippines committed to protecting children from this horrific form of human trafficking, where young victims are trafficked to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM), especially in live videos.
At the same time, I am hopeful because we have seen incredible success in our partnership with the Philippine government to address this crime. Through IJM-supported cases since 2011, Philippine law enforcement has brought to safety over 1,470 victims (and at-risk individuals), arrested over 430 traffickers and convicted over 265 perpetrators. And in 2016, the US State Department recognized this progress by upgrading the Philippines to Tier 1 in its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report — the first Southeast Asian country to reach that top ranking, which still held its place on the latest 2024 report. The message was clear: when justice systems are equipped and accountable, they can stop trafficking.
But despite this progress and sustained commitment from governments, this particular form of technology-facilitated trafficking continues to ravage communities in the Philippines and around the world. It has become clear to me that we cannot rely solely on the efforts of individual governments or bilateral partnerships to adequately address the tidal wave of violence against children on the internet. It's simply not enough.
'Technology companies play a pivotal role in protecting victims and vulnerable individuals from being exploited through the use of their online platforms and must be part of the solution to combat human trafficking,' according to the 2024 TIP Report. And because many of the world's largest and most influential technology companies are based in the United States, the US Congress must pass laws to appropriately incentivize this influential sector to be a part of the answer to this epidemic.
Countries like the US where sex offenders driving the demand for this crime often live — and the online platforms, payment processors and money transfer services that inadvertently enable it — must take action. This comes at a timely moment for US policymakers, who have been increasingly attentive to the crisis of children being exploited online.
It is time for US Congress to pass the STOP CSAM Act (H.R.3921 and S.1829). Momentum is building for this legislation, which was examined at a March hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee and advanced on a bipartisan basis by that committee on June 12 in a unanimous vote of 22-0. If enacted, this bill would allow victims to seek legal recourse against online platforms that promote or aid and abet their exploitation — a significant step toward the goal of protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation online.
The STOP CSAM Act would also help improve the quality of reports submitted by online platforms to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline by requiring platforms to report specific details of child sexual exploitation. Online platforms are already required to report this form of child sex trafficking under the REPORT Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law in May 2024. The STOP CSAM Act strengthens existing reporting obligations and emphasizes the importance of including particular data points in CyberTipline reports that could help identify or locate a child who may be actively being exploited — including user and location information, content details and whether content was previously viewed.
Stopping online sexual exploitation of children is a moral duty — and it should be enforced by increased legislative action in the US.
The work is hard and long, marked by moments of deep exhaustion and despair, but hope still wins. I experienced a glimpse of this sustained hope as I was recognized by the US Department of State as a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Hero last year — the highest honor given by the US government for anti-trafficking leadership around the world. Reflecting on the last two decades of this work, I have undoubtedly witnessed humanity's darkest side. Yet, my team and I have also experienced deep generosity and care from those working to combat this crime — and we are fueled by our experience that change is possible.