[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] if you miss any of our live coverage of the governments response to the coronavirus outbreak, watch it anytime at cspan. Org coronavirus, for daily briefings by the white house and the task force, and hardest hit states. Use the charts and map to track the global spread and confirmed cases in the u. S. County by county. Our coronavirus web page is your fast and easy way to watch cspans unfiltered coverage of this pandemic. Up next, a Senate Hearing on Bipartisan Legislation aimed at eliminating Child Sexual Exploitation on the internet. Good morning. Thank you all for attending this, what i think is going to be a very important hearing and senator blumenthal, i want to thank you for the hard work youve put into drafting this piece of legislation. Senator feinstein is on the way. She said it would be okay if we got started. I normally dont say a whole lot in opening statements, but i might take a bit of time today. I want to introduce into the record my full statement. Ill introduce into the record, without objection. And kindly remind people what brought us here today. In july we had a hearing about Sexual Exploitation of children, social media applications, Technical Companies having data about Child Exploitation and im trying to find a way to childproof the systems and make sure innovation continues and that the people in the business know what they need to do to earn Liability Protection when it comes to preventing sexual exploretation of children. Section 230 was passed years ago, which basically gives blanket immunity to the Tech Companies, social media sites that are subject to this hearing to make sure they could get started, grow and flourish. That has been accomplished. Now, it is time for us as a nation, to figure out about how to rein in some of the problems associated with these industries. Number one, ive come to conclude that the technical systems available today have been are dream come true for child predators, that for every good thing thats happened with the internet for lack of a better term, there are dark forces that need to be dealt with and what ive done with senator blumenthal is come up with a system to create best Business Practices for companies in the arena to follow and if they follow these best Business Practices, they can keep their 2 30 label protection and the reason were here with a different approach is because senator blumenthal and myself believe the Current System is not working. In the july hearing, the regulatory and system in place is simply not working. Its become in the mind of many a joke. The National Center for missing and exploited children, also known as nncmc. And when it was first started, by 2014, 1. 1 million reports in a year. 2019, there were almost 17 million reports to the tipline in a single year. The 2019 reports included more than 69 million images, videos, and files related to Child Exploitation. There was a particular increase in video last year of the files reported, 41 million of the 69 million were videos. A 23yearold daycare worker pleaded guilty to Child Exploitation and child pornography and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. She sexually abused a fiveyearold child and filmed the abuse, shared the abuse material mainly using an app called kick with men she met through other apps and forms, including craigs list. A 23yearold man sexually abused a 16monthold toddler. He took photos and videos and shared them on an app, he said he chose the toddler because she doesnt communicate her abuse. Section 230 has failed in my view to incentivize the companies in question to do a better job dealing with this horrific problem. The Company Reports of Child Sexual Exploitation to the cyber tip line. Social Media Companies reports in 2019 out of the total 16. 9 million reports to the cyber tip line, facebook was 15. 8 million. So the people at facebook, thank you, youre doing a pretty good job. Doing a good job. Twitter, 46,000, snapchat 82,000. Apple, amazon eight. And 205 for apple. So something is wrong here. I am not convinced that all the problems are on the facebook system. Im convinced that other people are not finding what facebook is able to find if you look and here is the question for the country, should we be looking . Should the companies in question be looking and reporting . The answer is yes. What roles do adults have in protecting the children of one society . What role do politicians have in aiding parents to protect their children from Sexual Exploitation . What is the duty to allow commerce to grow unimpeded to the highest and best use . All of these are things that were grappling with, but let me tell you where im coming down. Im coming down on the side of looking and trying to find out and put these bastards in jail and stop it. Im on the side of parents who really dont have the tools at home. Its just too complicated for any set of parents, a single parent or anybody to protect their child. You need help. Whats the role of the congress . To provide the help. To find a balance between busine business, free thought and expression and protecting children who are being filmed daily, their abuse and everybody who watches it who part of the eabuse. This has got to stop. Youll never stamp it out. Its been around as long as man has been around, but the technologies today have created a explosin explosion in terms ol exploitation of children, being widely viewed and shared and its now time for us to do something. Ive had lunches, ive had dinners, ive talked, i have begged and pleaded. My good friend senator wyden weve talked, im tired of talking, we are going to start voting. If you do you are home free. If you dont, you run the risk of going to court may view when, maybe dont. This is the only area in society i know where you have absolute blanket protection. And it made sense back then, it doesnt make sense now, particularly in this area. So what is the other chart . This one here. This is where the reporting is come from. 15 billion reports by facebook. Google 449,000. Amazon eight, apple 205. Clearly facebook is looking and finding something. Other people are not looking for or its there. You just have to look pics of facebook is talking about into into encryption which means they go blind. This bill is not about the encryption debate but the best Business Practices im trying to find out what they should be. And the congress under our bill has to approve them for them to become the law of the land. So were having the attorney general with other cabinet official to set up a commission, 19 people, to try to figure out what are the best ways to protect children from Sexual Exploitation. And it being shared with millions and billions and billions of people and regulating these sites. And once the commission has decided what to do, congress has to approve it before the companies in question this dece whether or not they want to embrace these practices. Its bipartisan. Ive got ten cosponsors. I think if we voted with get a lot of votes. My goal is to fix the problem, understanding the complexity of it, not to put anybody out of business and not to stop innovation, but to do something about the fact that children, on a massive scale, are being abused by groups of individuals, and the abuse is being shared to millions of people, which incentivizes the abuse. So senator blumenthal, thank you for working with me to come up with a balanced approach that gives us off the sidelines as a nation. I will end with this. I am not going to stay on the sidelines any longer. Facebook is doing a damn good job of finding out sexual abuse on their platform and they are reporting it, and prosecutors are acting. The other sites, not so much. Were not going to go blind as a nation. We are not going to go blind and let this abuse go forward in the name of any other freedom. Any society that fails to protect its children, and do all this within reason to do so, has lost their way. America is not going to lose its way. Senator blumenthal. Thank you, senator graham. I want to thank you for the very powerful statement, it even more so for the profoundly important work that you have done and your leadership on this bill has been invaluable. I want to thank also our colleagues on this site and the other side. This bill as you mentioned is truly bipartisan. We are joined by senators white house and feinstein and durbin on decide and senators hawley and ernst on your side. And hope we will be joined by many others, because the more people understand whats at stake here, the force of this effort is simply indisputable. And i want to pay tribute to the survivors and their families who have come forward. The strength and courage it takes to be the face and voice of this problem is simply unimaginable. Anyone who has seen these photos and images has to be absolutely repulsed. You wont see them here. We have charts, what those images are gutwrenching, file, unspeakable in their cruelty and their betrayal of basic humanity. So we are here about values, about basic human decency, about images that are not only of betrayal of basic humanity now, but hot those victims and survivors for years, indeed, for decades throughout the lies. Because the internet is invested with these images that simply dont go away. For children who become adults, they are a continuing message. I began these efforts some 15 years ago when i was attorney general in the state of connecticut, when i sought to stop predators from exporting chilled on my space, which is more for the history books no more than for parliament. This problem is as old as civilization but it has been given new file force by an internet that not only spreads but preserves those images. What i learned 15 just ago is that there is a section of law, section 230 of the Communications Decency act, that provides unique, near absolute immunity from legal responsibility for Certain Companies and activity. And we are not proposing to eliminate that kind of protection from liability that are deserved and earned by companies that follow good basic practices to stop those predators from exploiting children. And exploiting also the internet and the power that it provides. We are simply seeking to crack down on child abuse and exploitation, and to enlist those companies in this effort, and to make sure they follow good practices. Over the past decade, in fact, technology has advanced, and it has provided tools that preserve privacy and enable encryption, but at the same time afford these Tech Companies the opportunity to do tremendous good simply by reporting child abuse and exploitation materials to the National Center for missing and exploited children and Law Enforcement authorities. This problem can be solved. And yet shockingly, these Tech Companies, some of them among the largest, with more than ample resources, have failed to meet their social and moral obligation. There was a shocking New York Times investigative report, tremendously valuable and powerful that indicated that employees provided 2545 reports to ncmec last year. Even 4chan, not exactly a paragon of online virtue provided 1380. Amazon provided eight. Thats right, eight. Ncmec sent to amazon 629 reports set 69 reports. Ncmec found nearly nine times more abuse material on Amazon Services then amazon found on its own. In response to a letter that we wrote, flickr davis a thoughtful description gave us a thoughtful description of meaningful efforts to build safe into the platform using automated tools amazon said they were thinking about it, but no plan. Apparently, the company that can get you packages almost before you order them, provides a little more slowly when it comes to preventing Child Exploitation. So this bill is not about ending encryption. The Tech Community has told us that both are possible, that encryption is fully compatible with preventing child abuse and exploitation material on these internet sites. What that is into and encrypted but they still managed to remove 250,000 accounts each month for suspected Child Exploitation. Thats 6 million accounts deleted per year without degrading the privacy of their act. Meanwhile, apple has several unencrypted products including its icloud backup and its email service, they just made 250 reports of offensive material last year. So this bill is not about ending encryption. And it is also, and im going to be very blunt here, its also not about the current attorney general, william barr. We are quite clear here. William barr gets one vote on the commission that is established under this bill. Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi each appoint four representatives. The Tech Companies have representatives as well. The votes on the commission have to be by 14, a 14 majority, out of 19. 19. So there is clearly a need for consensus. The attorney general, whoever she or he is, has the power that is purely negative. She or he cannot promulgate any best practice not supported by this bipartisan consensus on the commission, and a majority in congress. And i want to say, finally, many technologies already are doing the right thing. Many of the smallest Tech Companies are following best practices, trying to do the right thing. More resources should be provided to Law Enforcement. I am always in favor of more resources, to the department of justice and the ncmec, and others that help the Tech Companies do the right thing and enforce against these predators. But this blanket near absolute immunity is not an absolute right. Its not a gift. It should be earned and deserved. And certainly should not be continuing if these companies failed to observe and follow the basic moral obligation that they have under the law, but as a simple, matter of simple morality. One of the compass doing the right thing is going to testify today, and i applaud the match companies leadership, mr. Site is here. Ive been heartened by their willingness and again some of the smaller Tech Companies, some of the innovators and startups to engage with me and senator graham, and together i look forward to continuing these conversations. I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today. I do want to look back in 15 years from now and say, we could have saved the lives that have been damaged or destroyed in the meantime. We need to do something now. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator feinstein, would you like to just a gentle, and i will put my remarks in the record general comment. Im a mother and grandmother, mr. Chairman. Seven children. Nothing enrages me more than sexual abuse of children, and the Tech Companies of the state of represent that i am so proud to represent, not use this method of promotion to do this kind of thing. And it is horrendous. It is destroying young children. The New York Times just sad that the number of reported photos, videos, and other materials related to online child sexual abuse grew by more than 50 last year. Case closed, mr. Chairman. Im proud to support this legislation. Thank you. We will begin the hearing now. Nicole, would you come forward please. Have a seat, maam. Nicole tell her how harmless we are, to relax. You are in good hands, nicole. Nicole a mother of a survivor whose sexual exploitative images have been widely circulated on a variety of internet websites and social media platforms. Nicole was able to seek invaluable and emotional support from knickknacks team hope, a Peer Support Group composed of parents whose children had been missing or exploited. Welcome to the committee, and if you would mash the red button. Thank you for coming to talk with us. Thank you for having me here if you get a little close and thought into the mic, thank you. Thank you for having me. Good morning chairman graham, Ranking Member feinstein and members of the committee. I am pleased to be a divide a paris perspective on the introduction of the earn it act and why this bill is crucial in addressing Child Sexual Exploitation that affects so many children and their families including my own. My name is nicole and im the mother of the survivor whose exploitative images have been widely secondly on a ride of internet websites and social media platforms. Im here today because i firsthand knowledge of how sexual abuse material impacts children and families to my childs biological father produce sexually abusive photos starting with our child was five years old, and shared his images on the internet. We are fortunate my child abuse was arrested and also the rest of his life in jail. Not all children are lucky enough to see justice served. Through this experience i learned about the world of online Child Sexual Exploitation that i never knew existed. At first i did not comprehend the repercussions from my childs abuse of interesting unlike of my initial reaction was released, that the images would prove what he had done and would help prosecute him. It never occurred to me that just because he was is gone, te images were not. It was devastating to learn that my childs abuse continued to be redistributed online, we victimize the my child every single time. I have been told at one point these images with the most highly trained in the world and even today a decade later the images are still being traded in seeing a new cases. I do not understa