During an appearance on American Family Radio (AFR)'s "The Stand Radio" program, Lisa Thompson of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said the Internet has exploded the phenomenon of sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adults.
"The tech industry is completely aware of this and for years did nothing about it, and it took organizations like ours to devote countless hours of staff time to researching what's going on these platforms, creating detailed reports and sending them letters, so we're really trying to shine a spotlight on them," said Thompson.
There’s willful ignorance on the part of many in the tech industry.
"They often plead ignorance. Basically, we're doing their job for them, what they should already be doing … their due diligence of making sure that their products aren't harmful and aren't fueling sexual abuse and exploitation."
Police yourselves please
Voluntary international guidelines were adopted in 2020 to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of minors, but there’s been little positive as a result.
At least one tech company, Apple Corporation, has attempted to dodge efforts by American Family Association (AFA) to require it to use software to identify sexual predators.
Apple sought to suppress a resolution prepared for AFA for its 2025 shareholders meeting, but Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys were successful in urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to hold Apple’s feet to the fire and allow the resolution.
Apple balks at 'transparency report'
The proposed resolution asks Apple to conduct a risk assessment – the resolution calls it a “transparency report” – if the company refuses to implement the scanning software, AFA Vice President Walker Wildmon told AFN.
According to Thompson, it's become such a problem that staffers of NCOSE are in a day-to-day battle with men who wear suits, have business degrees, and run some of the biggest corporations in the world.
"It's astonishing that you know our day jobs are fighting people with computer science degrees and business executives but that's the case because the tech sector so overwhelmingly has become complicit in facilitating and fueling the behavior of those who are predators, whether they're committing hands-on offenses or just engaging on these online offenses."
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
