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Teen Vogue is taking full advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting the dangerous activity of sexting to its underage readers who are using the internet now more than ever for school and play while hunkered down at home. When youth under the age of 18 years old send or post explicit or nude pictures or videos of themselves to others via cell phones, computers or social media, they may be liable under both state and federal laws child pornography laws.
It is outrageous that a teen publication would prey on the vulnerabilities, sexual curiosities and peer pressures experienced by today's teens and tweens by encouraging its young readers to engage in potentially criminal behavior, putting them at greater risk of exploitation by sex traffickers and predators.
Depending on the circumstances, sexting may also be a federal crime under the PROTECT Act of 2003 which makes it illegal to produce, distribute, receive, or possess with intent to distribute any obscene visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. State sexting laws prohibit the sending and receiving of sexually explicit images. Sexting laws vary by state, and some states have adopted laws that prescribe penalties aimed specifically at teenagers or adolescents who send such photos.
By encouraging its underage teen audience to engage in the risky behavior of sexting, TeenVogue.com, which boasts of 11.6M digital users and 13.4M social media followers, is placing youth at the following risks:
- Being prosecuted and/or convicted for the production and/or distributionof child pornography which can result in criminal charges, including the youth having to register as a sex offender for life.
- Vulnerability to sex predators and sex traffickers who often disguise themselves as a peer and "friend" in an attempt to gain a youth's trust and groom him/her into sexual activity both online and offline.
- The sexual images of youth can be used by both pedophiles and youth as tools of sextortion, revenge porn, and other forms of sexual exploitation and shaming, leading to life-long trauma and even suicide.
- Unwelcome sexts may be experienced by the receiver as sexual harassment and have negative psychological consequences by both parties.
In January, the Internet Watch Foundation reported that self-generated imagery now accounts for almost a third of web pages featuring sexual images of children that they take down, and more than a third of those images feature 11 to 13-year-old children, of which the majority is girls.
Ironically, Teen Vogue's sexting articles were promoted at the same time the FBI issued a press release warning school closings due to COVID-19 present a potential for increased risk of child exploitation as students are spending more unsupervised time at home on computers.
Many of you were among the 46,000 concerned citizens who signed EIE’s 2017 petition, “Say No to Teen Vogue,” which launched in response to its jaw-dropping Anal Sex Guide which told its young readers who were "vagina owners" that "just because you have a vagina, does not mean anal is off-limits. The guide also had a special section on "the appeal of anal sex when you have a prostate." The article is still posted, and in fact, Teen Vogue retweeted it on Christmas Day 2019.
Even if you signed our first petition, we need you to sign the NEW petition to Shut Down Teen Vogue found here. Please, forward this e-mail or share it using the social icons below with your friends, family, co-workers ... anyone who will help put an end to this reckless digital publication!
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