by Jason Piccolo, Townhall:
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House would present a key opportunity to finally hold Big Tech accountable for its continued failure to protect children. With Elon Musk already demonstrating how tech leaders can prioritize accountability and transparency, the incoming administration would be positioned to transform how social media companies respond to child exploitation.
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While Musk has shown that tech giants can prioritize swift action against exploitation on X (formerly Twitter), other platforms continue to drag their feet. The crisis recently came into sharp focus when Meta faced a landmark lawsuit from 30 state attorneys general. The lawsuit exposed what law enforcement has long known: social media companies’ delayed responses to evidence preservation requests are severely hampering child exploitation investigations. Backed by Musk’s tech industry influence, Trump’s incoming administration must be prepared to tackle this crisis head-on.
The statistics are stark. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted over 4,000 child exploitation investigations in 2023 alone. Behind these numbers lies a disturbing reality: while investigators wait for companies to preserve evidence, crucial digital trails disappear forever. Trump’s administration, with Musk’s proven expertise, must empower HSI to demand immediate compliance from these tech giants.
Consider Snapchat’s disappearing message feature, which has become a significant obstacle for investigators. The platform reported 400,000 CSAM incidents in a single quarter of 2023 through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, yet their response times to law enforcement requests remain inadequate. Trump’s Justice Department must be able to impose real consequences for such delays.
