MARQUETTE, MI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Investigators are calling a Marquette, Mich. sextortion case a landmark case. Those impacted by it are hoping it can bring action at a federal level to combat a crime that may be much more common than expected.
Jordan DeMay died by suicide last March after being a victim of sextortion. Three Nigerian men now await extradition to the U.S. on charges related to the case.
Catching these alleged predators is a rarity, as they are often overseas. This creates a challenging web of jurisdictions and a complicated cyber trail.
But in Jordan’s case, local law enforcement quickly tracked down IP addresses and information vital to finding the men charged.
Last week, on what would have been her son’s 19th birthday, Jordan’s mother talked openly about her son and grieving his death while fighting to help other children.
Jennifer Buta is working to change the conversation around social media since her son’s death.
“Right now, social media companies have no liability for anything that happens on their social media platforms. There’s no safety, security features in place for minors.”
And after what happened to her son, Jennifer wants to change that and try to help as many other children and families as possible.
Jennifer has been talking with federal lawmakers garnering support for the Kids Online Safety Act.
“This bill would provide safety features for minors,” explained Jennifer. “It would eliminate target advertising to minors. It will give parents notifications of what their children are doing online and also hold social media companies responsible for things that are happening on their platforms.”
The bipartisan bill, first introduced in 2022, would require social media companies to have the strongest safeguards as the default. These settings would protect minors’ information and limit who could contact them. It would also provide parents with tools and reports to supervise activity.
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters recently pledged his support for the bill.
“Unfortunately, with social media companies, the way they make their money is to get people very engaged and to stay on social media as long as they possibly can and then provide material that sometimes is destructive,” said Peters. “So, that’s why it’s important for us to put some guardrails around social media.”
Peters says it’s important to ensure social media companies aren’t focusing on making money rather than users’ safety.
The bill has received support from hundreds of advocacy and technology groups. Jennifer supports the bill too but says there is more to be done.
“I think it’s really great that we have these groups behind it,” said Jennifer. “It’s not everything that I would like to see happen in a reform of social media, but it’s a really great step forward to start making those changes.”
This legislative session, lawmakers are hopeful to get the Kids Online Safety Act to President Joe Biden’s desk, despite opposition from some technology companies.
