AUSTIN, Texas — Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) hosted a roundtable on Wednesday at Facebook's Austin office to discuss the "CyberTipline Modernization Act," a recently enacted law that aims to help prevent child exploitation online.
Facebook, Microsoft and Google, along with representatives from the Austin Police Department, Travis County District Attorney's Office, U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S. Marshals Service discussed their use of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline and how the CyberTipline Modernization Act will help them protect children from being exploited online.
NCMEC created the tipline in 1998 to allow the general public and technology industry to report online instances of child sexual exploitation, including child pornography.
Congress enacted legislation related to the CyberTipline in 2008, and Sen. Cornyn's CyberTipeline Modernization Act updates the federal statute.
Signed into law on Dec. 21, the law "facilitates the reporting of imminent or planned violations to provide opportunities for intervention before children are harmed; expands legal authorities to include all visual content, including videos and images; and strengthens NCMEC;s process for handling international reports to ensure they are sent to the proper authorities in foreign countries," according to Sen. Cornyn's office.