Washington D.C., August 27, 2024 — Today, grieving parents from across the country, whose children died from suicide after being sexually extorted on social media, came together to demand accountability from Meta. Despite many requests from the bereaved parents, the company has refused to meet with them to address rampant sextortion on their platforms. They were joined by Ailen Arreaza, Executive Director of ParentsTogether, and called on House leadership to vote on the Kids Online Safety Act – passed by the Senate last month after two years of lobbying by parents.
1 in 17 children – the equivalent of 1 in every American classroom – has fallen victim to sextortion, according to new research by Thorn. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that sextortion is up 323% in the past two years. Last year alone, reports of child sexual abuse images, often central to sextortion, topped 100 million last year alone.
ParentsTogether Action, a nonprofit advocacy group representing more than 3 million families, is leading a Day of Action to sound the alarm on the surging threat of sextortion and call attention to the social media companies that are failing to regulate their platforms to protect kids. After more than a year of of attempting to engage Meta, ParentsTogether will deliver a letter signed by by 10 families whose children have been sextorted, urging the tech giant to take immediate action to stop sextortion on their platforms.
Ailen Arreaza, Executive Director of ParentsTogether:
“Online safety is an increasingly urgent issue for families as kids spend more and more time on unregulated and unsafe social media platforms. For more than 3 years, we’ve been connecting with and supporting parents whose children have been seriously, often irreparably, harmed by social media. Companies like Meta are failing to put kids, health, and safety over their own profits – and some have paid the ultimate price.”
Shelby Knox, Director of Online Safety Campaigns at ParentsTogether Action:
“Sextortion is the crime of the social media era. The same platforms that connect millions of children to each other also connect them to predators, criminals, and other unscrupulous people. But Meta’s sextortion prevention tools put the onus on kids to stop an adult criminal from exploiting them. Every day Meta sits in silence, allowing their platforms to continue facilitating sextortion. How many more will it take? How many more empty chairs at dinner tables? How many more closed-off doors? How many more families need to join this club before Meta does something?”
Jenn Buta, Parent from Marquette, Michigan:
“Our children are getting hurt and dying because of Meta’s platforms, and they’re literally doing nothing to stop it. Mark Zuckerberg said that with proper parenting, children don’t need restrictions. Instead of Meta taking responsibility for what is happening, they are putting that onto the parents. We need Meta to step up, get on board, and make some groundbreaking changes for the safety of our kids. It’s more than time for them to put our children over profits.”
Jenn’s son Jordan died by suicide at 17 years old after he was contacted by sextortionists on Instagram who pretended to be a teen girl to solicit explicit images. He died just six hours after the blackmail began.
Mary Rodee, Parent from Canton, New York:
“As a mom, I don’t want a single other parent in this world to experience what I do every day. We need industry-wide regulation, including bills like the Kids Online Safety Act. We need Meta to dedicate real energy and resources to stop enabling sextortion with their tools and platforms – they can’t just ask kids to stop this.”
Mary’s son, Riley, died by suicide at 15 years old. He was sextorted on Facebook by an adult who pretended to be a teenage girl and then threatened to release explicit images of Riley unless he gave them thousands of dollars. Riley, ashamed and frightened, died just six hours after the contact began. Meta never responded when Mary and Riley’s father reported the incident.
J, Parent who wishes to stay anonymous:
“Even for the many children like my daughter who survive the abuse and exploitation Meta exposed them to, there are lasting scars they live with every day. It’s been three years, and we are still managing the trauma and the fallout. Instagram makes billions of dollars from kids like my daughter using their platform—they owe our kids better protection.”
J’s daughter was sextorted on Instagram at 12 years-old by a criminal who threatened to kill her and her family if she didn’t keep sending explicit photos. This went on for 6 months before J discovered what was happening, and she is still dealing with the impact on her daughter’s mental health.
Stephen Carnes, Parent from Rome, Georgia:
“Mr. Zuckerberg, you are being presented with an opportunity to prevent other families from experiencing the unspeakable horror my family has faced. I would like to help you achieve a positive outcome to prevent this exploitation of our children. You are being given a chance to effect positive change that could leave your name as a force for good in the face of evil.”
Stephen’s daughter Eryn was deplatformed to Facebook from an online game by sextortionists who convinced her she was in a relationship with them to continue soliciting more images. When Eryn started cutting due to the stress of being manipulated by adult criminals, they told her to kill herself. She was 15 when her younger sister found her dead by suicide.
ParentsTogether is also collecting signatures from parents and advocates in an online petition, asking Instagram to take additional measures to prevent sextortion.
ParentsTogether Action, a nonprofit parent and family advocacy group that represents more than 3 million families, brings parents together to make a difference on the issues that matter most to our kids and families — things like family leave, childcare, and quality education.
For more information, visit their website.