Lankford Introduces Bill to Prevent Big Tech from Protecting Child Predators

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the Protecting Children Over Profits Act to prohibit tech companies from charging law enforcement fees for compliance with search warrants or subpoenas if the case has to do with child exploitation.

“Search warrants and subpoenas give essential information to law enforcement—especially in cases of child exploitation. It’s absurd that under current law, big tech is allowed to charge law enforcement a fee to pull data on illegal practices they have allowed on their platform. This bill ensures tech companies aren’t able to profit off of hard-working law enforcement agencies when they are protecting children from the online images big tech permitted,” said Lankford.

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force in Oklahoma was among the first to sound the alarm on this issue. The legislation is endorsed by Raven, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), National Children’s Alliance (NCA), National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), and Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA). 

“Tech companies are disparate in the information they send to law enforcement and sadly most times law enforcement does not receive the needed information to protect our children. Some companies will charge law enforcement to process this information. This bill would prevent companies from charging law enforcement for legal processes to protect children,” Raven CEO John Pizzuro.

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