Join OJJDP's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program in observing Safer Internet Day on February 6, 2024.
This annual awareness campaign promotes Internet safety and encourages conversations among youth, parent groups, schools, and communities about online threats.
The focus of this year's Safer Internet Day is “Parenting Tips for Online Safety.” The ICAC Task Force Program offers videos and resources to help parents start the conversation with youth about how to safely use the Internet.
In 2023, the FBI, in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), issued a national public safety alert regarding a surge in sextortion schemes involving children.
Sextortion occurs when children and teens are being coerced into sending explicit images online and extorted for more explicit content or money. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of reports involving sextortion more than doubled, according to NCMEC.
Access these OJJDP-sponsored resources:
- ICAC's law enforcement guide and victim resource sheet for law enforcement and education professionals, child advocacy practitioners, and parents to assist youth victims of sextortion.
- NCMEC's free Take It Down online tool to help victims remove online sexually explicit photos and videos taken of them while under 18 years old. It includes a public service announcement, produced by NCMEC, for television and online platforms that youth visit. Users may remain anonymous.
Start the Conversation
#SaferInternetDay
#StartTheConversation
#InternetSafety
- The Issues: Sextortion
- NetSmartz Educational Resources on Sextortion
- Poster: It's Called Sextortion > English | Spanish
- Sextortion Fact Sheet
Protect Our Youth Online: A Virtual Event to Start the Conversation Webinars
As part of Internet Safety Month in June 2022, OJJDP and ICAC presented "Protect Our Youth Online: A Virtual Event to Start the Conversation." This virtual event—comprising three webinars—featured presentations from technology safety experts with tips and resources to help inform and protect youth online.