U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday visited Dallas to discuss his proposed legislation that would aid in preventing online child abuse.
The Protect Safe Childhood Act provides approximately $60 million a year to modernize technology used for online abuse investigations, improve coordination of law enforcement across jurisdictions and educate the public. The bill would reauthorize an existing program, started in 2006, through 2028.
The Protect Safe Childhood Act was passed through the Senate in October and is awaiting consideration in the House. Cornyn said he is optimistic the bill will get over the finish line because of the nonpartisan nature of the issue.
Cornyn was joined Thursday by local and national advocates, local law enforcement and survivors of child abuse. Speakers discussed the role they play in combating these crimes and how this legislation would be beneficial.
John Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children discussed his organization’s work managing a child cybercrimes tip line, and a Dallas police employee said the department received and investigated about 26,000 tips from the organization last year.
Building parent and child awareness about the risks of certain online platforms was a topic as well. Stephanie Elizalde, superintendent of Dallas ISD, said the pandemic created an urgency to push technology out to children without proper education about internet safety. After realizing this, the district began educating children about digital citizenship in 2021.
“On the other side of that screen or on the phone, there is evil and there are people that are harmful,” Elizalde said. “We think it is part of our responsibility to ensure that we help our students how to communicate appropriately and how to communicate when something doesn’t seem right.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listens as Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde speaks during a press conference at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Dallas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
Cornyn said he began fighting the exploitation of children during his tenure as attorney general and said the issue has only become more complicated, pointing to AI and deepfakes as emerging threats.
He also discussed recent Senate hearings with social media and tech companies. Cornyn explained that, historically, these companies have not been held liable for most content posted to their websites.
“I do think we need more accountability of the big tech companies, self-policing is not enough,” Cornyn said.
The Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center hosted the event. The center’s president, Irish Burch, said the center aims to centralize services for families affected by child abuse, eliminating duplication and “ensure that family does not fall through the crack.”
The event also displayed the skills of the first electronic storage detection dog in North Texas. Remi, the K9 officer with the Dallas police, is trained to locate USB drives and digital memory cards that can be used to store exploitative images.
Remi’s skills were shown off when a USB drive was hidden in a storage room at the children’s advocacy center full of donations. Cornyn watched on, calling her skills “amazing.”
Remi, a K9 Officer with the Dallas Police Department, demonstrates how she is trained to find electronics like thumb drives, cell phones, and microSD cards that can be used to exploit children at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Dallas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)