Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal Press Pinterest on Protecting Girls From Online Predators

U.S. Sens. U.S. Sens.

Blackburn and Blumenthal wrote the Kids Online Safety Act of 2022. However, it has yet to be approved by the Senate.

The senators sent the letter to Pinterest CEO Bill Ready in the wake of a March 9 NBC News investigative story on how men are using Pinterest algorithms to search out and locate individual photos and videos that young girls post of themselves, and then make sexually themed collections of that media with sexually suggestive titles.

According to NBC, girls are being bullied. “followed” Pinterest accounts that look to be owned by men. These accounts can post sexually suggestive comments to photos and videos of girls on their pages and can send messages to them.

“NBC News found that Pinterest’s recommendation engine literally ‘serve[d] up photos and videos of visibly underage girls, including toddlers, in large quantities to a user seeking out this type of imagery,” Blackburn and Blumenthal wrote the following: “This included photos and videos of young children dancing and posing in clothes like pajama shorts, bathing suits, and leotards. Even more egregious, Pinterest apparently took little to no action to prevent adult men from posting sexually suggestive comments on minors’ photos and messaging them directly.”

One of several questions Ready received from senators was this: “What are Pinterest’s practices with respect to identifying and removing pins, boards, and comments that are sexually suggestive of minors and/or may constitute child sexual abuse material, sexual trafficking of minors, or enticement?”

Blackburn and Blumenthal also wanted to know if Pinterest limits messaging between children and adults, if it moderates its boards internally or contracts for that work out, and if the company requested an audit or performed an internal review regarding identifying and removing inappropriate content. “child sex abuse material” and the luring of and sex trading of children.

In this year’s State of the Union address President Joe Biden spoke out about the dangers social media presents to the safety of children. Both parties should support legislation that protects online children.

“We must finally hold social media accountable for the experiment they are running on children for profit,” Biden made the remarks in his speech. “And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on personal data that companies can collect on all of us.”

The Conversation about Keeping Your Kids Safe Online

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children The NCMEC is at forefront of protecting and helping youth.

“One of the services that The National Center of Missing & Exploited Children offers parents is to be a general resource for information and education about technology and new apps, to help them keep their children safer online,” Yiota Souras (chief legal officer of NCMEC), spoke to The Epoch Times.

“And we encourage open communication among parents and children to forge trust, and so parents and their children can try to make decisions together about social media use.

“Knowing your child’s strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as their maturity level and maturity, can help you develop safe, age-appropriate parameters for social media. This will allow you to explain the dangers and give children the opportunity to enjoy meaningful, healthy interactions via social media.”