Maureen Flatley (President of Stop Child Predators) joins the podcast for a deep dive into why so many current “child safety” bills are missing the point.

We talk about the PROTECT Act of 2008 — a law Congress passed to build real law-enforcement capacity against online child exploitation that was never implemented. We look at the CyberTip program (the internet’s version of 911) that was never fully funded or tracked, even as reports skyrocketed. And we examine why so many of the new proposals, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), focus on platforms, surveillance, and age verification instead of enforcing existing criminal law or holding parents accountable.

Mo also covers:
Why she sees many lawsuits involving very young children as parenting failures, not just tech failures
The track record of states (and state attorneys general) when it comes to protecting kids already in government care
Why suing platforms won’t stop organized crime rings like the Yahoo Boys
The constitutional and practical problems with KOSA and similar bills
What actually needs to happen if the goal is fewer kids being exploited

Maureen has spent decades in child advocacy and child welfare policy. Her perspective is shaped by both the creation of modern child protection laws and years of watching how those same standards have been treated differently online.

Follow Maureen Flatley on X: @moflatley
Learn more about her work: stopchildpredators.org

#KOSA #ChildSafety #CyberTips #ParentalRights #StopChildPredators #OnlineSafety #PROTECTAct

Protecting Kids Online is a coalition of parents and citizens pushing back on surveillance and censorship bills sold as child safety. Read the bills. Talk to your legislators. Join the coalition at protectingkids.online.