Inside #TakeItDown, The Advocacy Campaign Pushing to Protect Kids Online

In the late 1980s, child sexual abuse material was all but eliminated. But with high-speed broadband and end-to-end encryption, live-streaming, gaming platforms, the rise of AI and growth of social media, the amount of child sexual abuse material circulating online has exploded – and not enough is being done to keep children safe on technology company platforms.

While U.S. tech companies are legally required to report child sexual abuse imagery once they’ve been made aware of it, they’re not required to proactively search for it. There is also no punishment for platforms that don’t remove it quickly, and there are no standards for transparency and accountability. #TakeItDown is a multimedia campaign designed to pressure policymakers to regulate Big Tech to proactively remove child sexual abuse material from their platforms. Uniting parents, partners, policymakers and influencers under one message, and elevating ChildFund’s advocacy leadership in the USA, #TakeItDown contributed toward the passing of the Report Act in May 2024.

Our panel of experts will discuss the elements of successful advocacy campaigning and why #TakeItDown created a new urgency around the issue, ultimately driving change.