Date
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
Location Name
Palladian Room
Name
Closing the Digital Door: Platform Design, Parental Power, and the New Front in Preventing Child Exploitation
Track
Prevention
Speakers
Sandra Asuncion, American Principles Project
Melissa Henson, Concerned Women for America
MODERATOR: Evan Swarztrauber, Digital Progress Institute
Melissa Henson, Concerned Women for America
MODERATOR: Evan Swarztrauber, Digital Progress Institute
Description
Most trafficking of minors today begins with a screen. Traffickers use social media and messaging apps to identify, groom, and isolate children, often in plain sight of parents who lack the tools to see it happening. This panel explores how platform design choices can either open the door to exploitation or close it. Panelists will examine recent safeguards adopted in the wake of state enforcement actions, discuss what effective parental tools look like in practice, and equip attendees to help families use them, and to push for the same protections across every platform kids use.