Bilirakis Meets with Local Law Enforcement Leaders to Identify Ways to Hold Big Tech Accountable for Protecting Children

Land O' Lakes, FL: Earlier today, Congressman Gus Bilirakis met with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and his senior leadership team to discuss the challenges local law enforcement faces when working to investigate cybercrimes, especially those involving children. After months of participating in Congressional hearings with executives from the Big Tech industry, it is clear that social media companies have failed to meet their obligation to protect youngest users. Congressman Bilirakis believes the Big Tech industry must be held accountable for doing better and has filed legislation to improve the industry's cooperation with law enforcement, put safeguards in place to protect children, and empower parents with the tools they need to keep their kids safe. As part of a comprehensive package of draft bills to hold Big Tech accountable, Congressman Gus Bilirakis recently released draft legislation to protect children from online exploitation. Specifically, his bill will remove federal liability protections granted to Big Tech companies under Section 230 for businesses or social media platforms that allow child pornography and child exploitation in circumstances when it was reasonably foreseeable that the illegal content was on their platform. It also directs the GAO to conduct a study on how platforms can better work with law enforcement to address illegal content and crimes on their platforms.

"We have an obligation to do a better job protecting children from online predators. Certainly, the federal government should not be giving a liability shield to companies that facilitate or allow child pornography and child sexual abuse material on their platforms," said Congressman Gus Bilirakis. "It is time to end Section 230 protections for these crimes and give enhanced protections to children who have been victimized and exploited.Additionally, we must empower law enforcement to go after bad actors and provide them with additional tools to keep kids safe. Sadly, our law enforcement officers report that they are encountering this type of online crime here in our community all too often, and they've had difficulty working with Big Tech platforms in a timely manner to protect children."

Congressman Bilirakis has also filed the Cooperating Among Police, Tech, and Users to Resist Exploitation (or CAPTURE) which has already received a legislative hearing in the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee. This legislation establishes a foundation to strengthen coordination between law enforcement and Big Tech as the entities work to combat illegal activities on social media platforms.

"Too often we've seen bad actors utilize social media platforms to facilitate crime by luring and exploiting children and other vulnerable populations,"added Congressman Bilirakis. "As I heard again today, our local law enforcement community then encounters unnecessary barriers when attempting to investigate these crimes. While Big Tech has repeatedly testified that the industry is working to identify and prevent its platforms from being used to facilitate criminal acts, progress has been painfully slow. Hopefully, the policy recommendations prompted by my bill will serve as a roadmap for both industry and government leaders as we seek to tackle the problem and improve public safety."