September 18, 2017
Statement: Donna Rice Hughes, World Congress: Child Dignity in the Digital World, October, 2017
Donna Rice Hughes Statement - World Congress.pdf
“I am honored to participate in this distinguished Congress as I have devoted the past 24 years of my professional life fighting to prevent the online exploitation of children fueled by Internet pornography, child sexual abuse images and predation. I hope to offer key strategies that are advancing our mission to make the Internet safer for children in the U.S.
Most recently the historic Children’s Internet Safety Presidential Pledge signed by candidate Donald Trump and supported by candidate Hillary Clinton, marks the first time since the advent of the Internet that the President of the United States has pledged to ensure the aggressive enforcement of existing federal obscenity, child pornography, predation and sex trafficking laws and to advance public policies designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of children online. Additionally, the “National Porn Free WiFi Campaign” calling upon Corporate America to voluntarily filter pornography and child sex abuse images on public WiFi has resulted in McDonald’s offering safe filtered WiFi nationwide and a commitment from Starbucks to filter their public WiFi nationally and implement a global safe WiFi policy. These successes have started a major shift in corporate responsibility regarding safe WiFi policy in the U.S.
I look forward to the valuable exchange of knowledge and information with other leaders as we bring together our collective experiences and expertise. Engaging in a global dialogue that leads to effective action and outcomes is necessary to curb the pandemic that is destroying the innocence of children worldwide. This abuse is preventable and it will take all of us, checking our differences at the door and working together long term for the sake of the dignity and safety of children.“
Donna Rice Hughes, the President and CEO of Enough Is Enough® (EIE), is an Internet safety expert, author, media commentator and speaker who has been a pioneering leader on the front lines to protect children online since 1994. She has testified numerous times before Congress and served on many government task forces and as a Child Online Protection Act (COPA) Commissioner. She is also the Emmy-award winning Producer of EIE's Internet Safety 101® SM TV series on the Public Broadcasting Station. Under her leadership, EIE created the Internet Safety 101® Program a proven- evidenced based, adult- focused program curriculum designed to educate and empower parents and caregivers to protect children from online pornography, sexual predators and cyberbullies, as well as social media, online gaming and mobile dangers. EIE is a national bi-partisan non-profit organization who has led the fight to make the Internet safer for children and families by incorporating a three-pronged prevention strategy urging a shared responsibility between the public, industry, and government.