Twitter Lawsuit Reinforces Critical Need to Reform Section 230

At the age of 13, John Doe and his friend were groomed by an online predator pretending to be a 16-year-old girl. This predator coerced the two boys into sending sexually explicit images and videos (also known as child sexual abuse material, CSAM).

Later the images and videos were posted on Twitter, garnering at least 167,000 views and more than 2,000 retweets. The images and videos circulated around John’s school community. He felt so humiliated and, feeling like there was no escape, John contemplated ending his life.

John and his mother reported the content to Twitter. They begged for the CSAM to be removed, even sending photos of John’s ID to prove that he was a minor. Twitter’s response left them heartbroken:

“We’ve reviewed the content, and didn’t find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time.”

On behalf of John Doe and his friend, the Haba Law Firm, the Matiasic Firm, and the NCOSE Law Center is suing Twitter (now X) for knowingly possessing CSAM and knowingly benefitting from sex trafficking.

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in this crucial case.

📣ACTION: Donate to the NCOSE Law Center!

Our survivor clients always remain free of fees, so your support is a big part of what makes these lawsuits possible. Please donate to the Law Center today so we can continue representing survivors like John Doe!

Vote for Teresa J. Helm for Individual of the Year at the Liberator Awards!

NCOSE's Teresa J. Helm was nominated as Individual of the Year for the 2025 Liberator Awards. The Liberator Awards is an annual event aimed at honoring and uniting those who are fighting against human trafficking.

Teresa, who joined NCOSE in 2022 as the Survivor Services Coordinator, has worked tirelessly alongside survivors of sexual exploitation to help them seek justice. She walks with survivors who wish to stand up to corporations or individuals who benefited from their exploitation through civil litigation, legislative solutions, and corporate policy reform.

Teresa’s journey has been filled with many obstacles, including surviving child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and the tangled web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She has emerged as a powerful voice, advocate, and expert in this movement. 

Honor Teresa's dedication to this work by voting for her now!

Join Us in Fighting Sextortion!

On February 11, Safer Internet Day, NCOSE will be co-hosting a briefing on the issue of sextortion alongside the End Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Coalition.

This briefing aims to shed light on financial sextortion – a tragic scam targeting teens – which has been rapidly on the rise as teens flock to online spaces. In 2023, reports of financial sextortion received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were up 148% from 2022.  

Congress must take action, because Big Tech is incapable of policing itself. Sextortion experts, survivors, and leading child safety groups will discuss this crime and the urgent need for legislation to protect children at a virtual briefing for Safer Internet Day on February 11, 2025.

The following movement leaders will deliver remarks at the event: 

• Coco Lammers, Project Director for U.S. Policy on OSEAC, Childfund 
• Paul Raffile, Sextortion Expert
• Jajaira Overton, End OSEAC Survivor’s Council Advisory Board
• Harrison Haynes, End OSEAC Survivor’s Council Advisory Board
• Shelby Knox, Director of Tech Accountability Campaigns, Parents Together 
• Sarah Gardner, CEO, Heat Initiative 
• Haley McNamara, Senior Vice President, National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Hope to see you there!

Deseret News: App stores are exploiting our children. We must change that

"Imagine a bank where children as young as 13 are allowed to sign contracts for car loans, high-limit credit cards, or even connect with risky foreign investors. This same bank hides the fine print, misleads young customers and profits by exploiting their personal data — including selling it to international adversaries. If parents step in, the bank assures them there’s nothing to worry about, even when that’s far from the truth. When problems inevitably arise, the bank blames parents for not doing enough.

This scenario sounds outrageous because we all know children lack the capacity to make such binding decisions. Yet, in the digital world, something like this happens millions of times every day. App stores, the digital gatekeepers of our children’s lives, routinely treat kids like adults, steering them into accepting exploitative terms of service with billion-dollar corporations. These agreements have the potential to give apps sweeping access to personal data — photos, contact lists, exact locations, even microphones and cameras — all without meaningful consent or oversight."

Sincerely,