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Push to protect children finally pays off

Push to protect children finally pays off


Push to protect children finally pays off

An anti-trafficking organization says it has made enormous progress in its mission to protect children online thanks to the biggest Big Tech firm of all.

That good news comes from Dawn Hawkins, who heads the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which has been demanding “safer spaces” for children when they browse the Internet.  

“For a number of years we've been asking Google to make sure that all of the devices and systems, platforms that they send to our schools, by default return to safety. And at first they said no.”

National Center did not give up and kept talking to the Big Tech giant over several months. Finally, one day the phone rang with a Google executive calling.

“All of the devices and products in K-through-12 schools will be defaulted to safety,” Hawkins says of that phone call. “All of the parental controls and safety features will be turned on automatically.”

In addition, the “incognito mode” will be disabled and turned off, guest modes will be turned off, and all unsafe websites will be blocked.

The safety changes go into effect September 1.