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I am retired from the New Jersey State Police, where I served as the Commander of the Internet
<br /> Crimes Against Children task force from 2015 to 2021. I personally experienced the struggles of
<br /> how best to protect our children online. We witnessed children targeted by offenders across all
<br /> platforms —no social media or gaming platform was safe, from apps such as Snapchat, Twitter,
<br /> Kik, Telegram, Discord, LiveMe, and Meetme, to gaming platforms and online games such as
<br /> Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite. And these represent just a fraction of the places where
<br /> offenders regularly interact with children. If the platform allows individuals to chat, or a way to
<br /> share photographs and videos, I assure you there is a very real danger that offenders are using
<br /> that access to groom or sexually exploit minors. Sadly, in addition to sexual exploitation, the
<br /> platforms allow children to buy drugs such as Fentanyl.2
<br /> Our children's world has become focused on"likes," followers, and views, and in this way social
<br /> media exploits vulnerabilities in our children's psychology. In an interview with Axios, the
<br /> former President of Facebook stated, "That means that we needed to sort of give you a little
<br /> dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post
<br /> or whatever ... It's a social-validation feedback loop ... You're exploiting a vulnerability in human
<br /> psychology ... [The inventors] understood this, consciously, and we did it anyway."3
<br /> That interview occurred on November 9, 2017 - more than five years ago, and our dependence
<br /> on technology has only increased. Cell phones have become ubiquitous, even in elementary
<br /> schools,providing offenders with an entirely new way to exploit children on the playground.
<br /> Children are made vulnerable on these platforms as the result of poor moderation, the absence of
<br /> age or identity verification, and inadequate or missing safety mechanisms. Of course, as the
<br /> amount of screentime has increased, so has the likelihood the children can be groomed and
<br /> manipulated.
<br /> Grooming is defined as simply manipulating and gaining a child's trust, but it is much more than
<br /> that. Grooming is what offenders do to victimize children, and it happens daily to unsusceptible
<br /> children who cannot see the danger. Children do not know the threat online because they
<br /> primarily engage in their online world in a safe place. As a result, the amygdala, the fear center
<br /> of their brain, is not activated, and children do not see the danger. This is what offenders will
<br /> capitalize on.
<br /> While sending compliments, virtual currency, gift cards, and other incentives are certainly part
<br /> of grooming, today's offenders do even more to access children's trust. Offenders research
<br /> children to know what they like, and do not like, what music they listen and so on. The offender
<br /> will then mirror their words and repeat the exact language. The child then will see someone who
<br /> Officers,and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act("the PROTECT Act")of 2008,(P.L. 110-
<br /> 401,codified at 42 USC 17601,et seq.),authorized the ICAC program through FY 2013. On November 2,2017,the
<br /> Providing Resources,Officers,and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to(PROTECT)Our Children Act of
<br /> 2017 was signed into law,reauthorizing the ICAC Task Force Program through FY 2022. More information is
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