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Netflix’s latest crime drama Adolescence is an eye-opener for parents, exposing how teenagers use emojis online as coded messages.

The four-part series follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper), who is arrested for the murder of his female classmate, Katie,  after being radicalised by incel and misogynistic culture online.

One particularly unsettling scene highlights just how unaware the adults in the series are. DI Luke Bascombe initially misinterprets a series of emojis left by Katie on Jamie’s Instagram profile, believing they were flirtatious.

It’s only when his teenage son, Adam, reveals their much more sinister meaning that the true danger becomes apparent.

Read More Here.

SPRINGFIELD — A Senate committee passed a bill this week that would give specialized training on human trafficking and establish coordination across multiple state agencies and partners.

Human trafficking is defined by the U.S. Justice Department as “a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts.”

Advocate and Chicago-native Brenda Myers-Powell, who was a victim of human trafficking for 25 years starting as a child, spoke at the state Capitol on Wednesday in support of the bill.

Read more here. 

Announcing the launch of AMBER Alerts on TikTok with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). This brings critical, time-sensitive information directly to people’s For You feeds to raise awareness of missing children and leverage the power of the US TikTok community to help reunite them with their families.

Last year we piloted AMBER Alerts with our community in Texas. From August to December 2024, AMBER Alerts on TikTok were viewed over 20 million times and contributed to 2.5 million visits to NCMEC’s website. Now, we’re expanding these alerts to more than 170 million Americans, so when an AMBER Alert is issued, we’ll show the alert in the For You feed of those within the area.

Read more here. 

Utah just passed the App Store Accountability Act, requiring parental consent before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases. This targets the source of the problem—app stores like Apple & Google—rather than chasing dangerous apps one by one. 

The bill, titled the App Store Accountability Act, now heads to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R)’s desk. If signed, the majority of the bill’s stipulations would take effect May 7.

Wake up America! This much-need awareness campaign is coming to your town soon!

“STOP THE MADNESS”:  RIGHTS4GIRLS LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE MARCH MADNESS BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN IN CITIES HOSTING NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Drawing Attention To Sex Buyers Fueling Multi-Billion Dollar Sex Trade 

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Rights4Girls announced a nationwide billboard campaign to combat sex trafficking/tourism surrounding the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament. This coordinated effort will hit 8 cities hosting the basketball games, with the goal of shining a light on the buyers fueling the multi-billion dollar illicit sex trade. The campaign will target the initial rounds (Cleveland, Milwaukee and Providence) go through regionals (Atlanta, Indianapolis and Newark, NJ) and take things all the way through the finals in San Antonio.

“Major sporting events like March Madness bring a lot of fun and entertainment, but they also attract well-to-do men with the wealth to purchase marginalized women and girls for sex,” said Yasmin Vafa, Executive Director of Rights4Girls.  “Amidst the tournament and all the festivities associated with the games, there’s also a dark underbelly of sex trafficking and sex tourism in which vulnerable people are exploited for profit in the shadows of celebration, parties and excitement. And this is a troubling issue all-year-round. The traffickers won’t simply disappear once the confetti is swept off the floor.”

In each host city, the R4G billboards will rotate through a series of messages, including: “It’s Madness To Think Sex Buying Is Just A Game,” “Sex Buying Is Foul,” “It’s Madness To Think Sex Buying Won’t Land You A Penalty,” and “It’s Madness To Think Sex Buying Is A Victimless Crime.”

While patronizing sex transpires every single day in big cities and small towns across America, it happens in a big, concentrated way around major sporting events like March Madness, the World Cup, NASCAR, and the Super Bowl. Anytime large numbers of men with disposable income flock to one place, the obvious happens. A surge in tourism creates an environment in which sex tourism could thrive.  Increased hotel bookings, parties and an influx of people make it easier for traffickers and sex buyers to operate under the radar.

“Sex buying is not a victimless crime, as some would mislead you to believe,” said Vafa. “Rampant misogyny and violence against women and girls is not only prevalent, but pervasive. While difficult to read, the sex buyers in this report reflect a community far from Hollywood’s Pretty Woman fairytale, but rather embody the disturbing mantra of ‘your body, my choice.’ Their words and actions reveal buyers as fully aware and indifferent to signs of trafficking, coercion, violence, substance abuse and desperation.”

For more information, please www.rights4girls.org/marchmadness.

President Donald Trump’s order pausing the U.S. ban on TikTok is set to expire in a few weeks and it’s still unclear how the government will work with private companies and the Chinese government to keep the app online, though reports suggest software giant Oracle may take a leading role in a potential TikTok deal.

Read more here.