Alejandro Mayorkas United States Secretary of Homeland Security | Official Website
WASHINGTON - The DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) released recommendations yesterday to inform the Department’s efforts to combat rapidly increasing crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). The HSAC’s final report of the Combatting Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Subcommittee presented six recommendations on how the consolidation of efforts at the Department and continued engagement with both federal and private sector stakeholders can complement existing DHS initiatives. The recommendations are:
1. Establish and empower an office at DHS to lead DHS-wide efforts to combat online CSEA and create a unified body, similar to a Fusion Center, to coordinate a whole-of-government response.
2. Implement solutions that extend beyond law enforcement activity by bringing together public and private sector partners.
3. Coordinate with law enforcement and platform vendors to create a unified system for reviewing CSEA investigations.
4. Ensure law enforcement and frontline personnel who engage with CSEA in their duties have access to well-being and mental health support resources.
5. Continue building Know2Protect, the Department’s public awareness campaign against online child sexual exploitation.
6. Position DHS as a pivotal coordinator enlisting other U.S. agencies in combating CSEA.
“A crime as heinous as child sexual exploitation and abuse demands the full weight of the Department of Homeland Security’s law enforcement and prevention capabilities,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The insight, expertise, and recommendations provided by the Department's advisory councils...are critical to guiding our relentless, unified work across the homeland security mission."
Online child exploitation is reaching epidemic proportions globally. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received over 36 million CyberTipline® reports of suspected online CSEA, marking a 360% increase from ten years ago.
This report follows earlier recommendations from the Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council (HSAPC) on combating CSEA in educational spaces, which aim to inform DHS strategy on engaging educators about protecting young people from this crime.
The HSAPC also examined foreign malign influence (FMI) threats in higher education through its Foreign Malign Influence in Higher Education Subcommittee report.
Earlier this year, Secretary Mayorkas tasked three advisory bodies—the HSAC, HSAPC, and Faith Based Security Advisory Council—with examining efforts to combat these crimes.
The FBSAC will present further recommendations later this month on engaging faith-based leaders in raising awareness about online CSEA.
In April, DHS launched the Know2Protect public awareness campaign alongside 16 outside organizations including Snap, Meta, Roblox, Google, NASCAR among others.
More information about these initiatives can be found at Know2Protect.gov or through HSAC's reports.
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