RAVEN

Raven Board Vice President, Brent Gromer, spoke to CBS 12 News yesterday after the arrest of three suspects in a Florida child s*xual abuse case.

"Hits close to home": 3 arrested after child s*x crimes streamed online An investigation that began with two boys recounting years of s*xual abuse landed three suspects in the Palm Beach County jail Wednesday, PBSO says.

Remember, technology is now decades ahead of laws to protect our kids and the rush towards encryption of the online services will only exacerbate this problem.

Snapchat continues to feature significantly in cases of child exploitation.

In a statement on the matter, reported by The Guardian a Snapchat spokesperson said: “Child s*xual abuse is horrific and has no place on Snapchat. We use cutting-edge detection technology to find and remove this type of content, and work with police to support their investigations. Snapchat also has extra safety features for 13- to 17-year-olds, including pop-up warnings if they’re contacted by someone they don’t know.”

Snapchat's approach to child protection doesn't focus on the prevention of abuse but instead puts the responsibility onto the very children who may be subject to grooming or other forms of coercion online. This exploitation can be from a stranger of course but this is only one part of the problem, it can also be from other children in their schools or part of their community,

At Raven we know how criminals operate and the lengths they will go to in seeking to exploit a child. We also know why it is so important that US legislation compels companies such as Snapchat and Meta invest in the resources to prevent harm and not just respond to it. Raven stands ready to support and advise on legislation in all 50 US states to ensure the protection of our children and to support law enforcement, it is the least they deserve.

Crimes involving child abuse imagery are up by a quarter in UK, says NSPCC Nearly half of incidents where platform was known occurred on Snapchat, with 26% on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp