releases: https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/6/technology/blackburn-investigates-kik-for-child-exploitation-and-sexual-abuse
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/6/technology/blackburn-investigates-kik-for-child-exploitation-and-sexual-abuse | Blackburn Investigates Kik for Child Exploitation and Sexual Abuse | 2026-06-12 | 2026 | 2026-06 | Republican | Senate | TN | Marsha Blackburn | B001243 | www.blackburn.senate.gov | blackburn | https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0 | scraper | NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent a letter to MediaLab CEO Michael Heyward regarding a recent report by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation warning that one of its platforms, Kik, remains incredibly dangerous for children. In the letter, Senator Blackburn requested a prompt response to a detailed list of questions, including what measures Kik employs to verify users are at least 18 years old, what safeguards prevent adults from engaging in inappropriate conversations with minors, and how many accounts have been terminated for child sexual abuse material violations. Senator Blackburn’s Kids Online Safety Act would require social media platforms like Kik to design their products with child safety in mind. New Report Reveals Kik Is Still a Paradise for Predators “Kik has followed a similar playbook as other social media companies: promise safety by design while simultaneously turning a blind eye to—or even allowing—the exploitation and abuse of minors. This conduct is disgusting and must immediately come to a stop. After Kik was first exposed for years of rampant child abuse and sexual exploitation on the platform, your platform purported to implement several of NCOSE’s recommendations to improve safety on the app. According to Bark, a parental controls company, however, Kik has been either the first or second most reported app for children’s exposure to severe sexual content for the past five years. In NCOSE’s report, researchers registered a profile under the username ‘Im12BeNice,’ indicating the user was 12 years old. According to the report, the account was almost immediately inundated with unsolicited sexual messages, requests for sexual conversations, and nude images from adult users. The strangers’ messages were unconscionable and sexually explicit. The account also received multiple nude photos. Rather than preventing predatory contact with a user who openly presented as a child, Kik’s systems allegedly allowed adults to discover, contact, and send explicit content to the account within minutes.” Kik’s Policies Are Designed to Allow Predatory Behavior | 1 | 2026-06-13T06:32:19Z | 2026-06-13T06:34:27Z |