WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent letters to Google, Microsoft, Discord, and X regarding the puzzling and alarming decrease in reports of child sexual abuse material, online enticement, and child sex trafficking submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline in 2024.

Last year, Senator Blackburn’s REPORT Act was signed into law, requiring platforms to submit reports of online enticement and child sex trafficking to the CyberTipline. These reports are crucial to law enforcement’s investigations of online child exploitation.  

Reported Incidents of Suspected Child Exploitation by Several Tech Companies Have Notably and Concerningly Dropped

“The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline is the preeminent online mechanism for members of the public and electronic service providers to report incidents of suspected child exploitation. The CyberTipline has received hundreds of millions of reports of online child sexual exploitation, and federal law requires online platforms to report known incidents of child sexual abuse material (child pornography), online enticement and child sex trafficking to NCMEC. Despite this important legal obligation, there has been a notable drop in reports to the CyberTipline from several platforms.”

Blackburn’s REPORT Act Requires Online Platforms to Report Instances of Child Sex Trafficking

“Last year, my bipartisan legislation—the Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology (REPORT) Act… was signed into law. This critical bill supports NCMEC in its core mission to protect our children online and assists law enforcement in their investigative efforts. Importantly, the law closed a gap in federal child exploitation laws by mandating that online platforms—including yours—report instances of child sex trafficking and enticement, which was not previously required under federal law. To ensure compliance with this requirement, the REPORT Act also increases the maximum fines for providers who knowingly and willfully fail to submit these reports to NCMEC.”

Tech Companies Must Fulfill Legal Obligation to Report Heinous Crimes Against Children

“Despite these requirements, recent testimony by NCMEC’s President and CEO to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism and data provided by NCMEC indicates that there has been a sharp decline in the number of reports that Google, [Discord, Microsoft, and X have] submitted to the CyberTipline since the passage of the REPORT Act… This notable decrease in reports to NCMEC is both puzzling and deeply troubling. It is crucial that your company fulfill its legal obligations to report these heinous crimes that occur on your platform. Our children deserve nothing less.”

Click here to read the letter to Google.

Click here to read the letter to Microsoft.

Click here to read the letter to Discord.

Click here to read the letter to X.