The Biden administration has launched a first-of-its-kind national public awareness campaign to educate children, teenagers, and parents about the proliferation of child sexual exploitation and abuse online.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Wednesday in New York City that the department’s investigative arm, Homeland Security Investigations, was launching the Know2Protect campaign in an attempt to teach minors what kind of online behavior is unsafe and how to respond.
“The web is growing darker and darker,” Mayorkas said during the announcement in Manhattan. “The cruelty and prevalence of this horrific crime are unimaginable.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 36 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation and abuse in 2023, a 360% increase from a decade ago.
The new initiative will bring together major technology companies, sports leagues, and youth-serving organizations to teach minors and adults about what crimes such as sexual extortion look like on social media, online gaming networks, and other websites.
Boy Scouts of America President and CEO Roger Krone said the opportunity to work with the federal government on preventing members from becoming victims was an easy “yes.”
“With our partnership, we have a great resource for them to understand what is acceptable behavior, what is unacceptable behavior, what to do when they’re faced with something that is confusing that they don’t understand that they’ve never seen before, and partnering with the department providing our youth resources will make a big difference in safeguarding youth,” Krone said during the press conference.
As part of the rollout, the federal government has shared free resources and tools that children, their parents, and trusted adults can use to learn about the types of predators online, how to guard against them, and how to report suspicious activity.
“The best way to keep kids safe online is to provide helpful information where they are: on social media and online gaming platforms, and through clubs, sporting events, and organizations,” Know2Protect campaign director Kate Kennedy said. “By partnering with a range of companies to raise awareness and disseminate educational messaging, we are keeping kids safe from online predators.”
The DHS chose to make the announcement in Manhattan because the stock market index Nasdaq allowed the department to take over and promote its new campaign on the stock exchange’s Times Square billboard.
“We in law enforcement cannot do the work of prevention, investigation and accountability and victim protection and support, alone,” Mayorkas said. “In ensuring that our Know2Protect campaign is an all-of-society effort, we reached out to organizations outside of government to join forces with us, understanding the tremendous reach and influence they have. The response was immediate.”
The DHS announced a long list of private sector partners, including NASCAR, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the nonprofit U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in sports; technology and gaming companies Google, Snap, Meta, and Intel; civic organizations, including Boy Scouts of America; and law enforcement partners.
Google, Snap, and YouTube have donated ad space to run Know2Protect ads on their platforms.
“Through our broader child safety work, we know how impactful it can be to provide young people and parents with information and tools on how to report these crimes and find resources,” Google.org Senior Director Annie Lewin said in a statement. “By donating ads, we hope to help the DHS reach a wider audience and further educate the public on this timely and urgent issue.”
MLB and MLS will promote the campaign at their all-star games on July 16 and July 24, respectively.
The U.S. Secret Service, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate are also involved.
Mayorkas also faced questions from reporters at the event about Senate impeachment trial proceedings against him scheduled to take place in Washington later in the day, but he said his focus was on the campaign.
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Mayorkas thanked DHS employees several times during his remarks for the harrowing work.
“I commend the courage and the heroism of the law enforcement agents and partners who fight this heinous crime every day, having to pour through horrific images and do the painstaking work of methodical, intricate research, arduous travel, and difficult confrontations,” Mayorkas said.
