A coalition of Pennsylvania lawmakers is advancing a resolution to designate August 17-23, 2025 as “Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness Week” in the state. The effort, led by Senators Scott Martin, Tracy Pennycuick, Frank Farry, and Rosemary Brown, seeks to address increasing concerns over online child exploitation.
The legislators are calling on schools, parents, and community leaders to support educational initiatives and prevention strategies during the designated week. According to the sponsors, this is the first formal recognition of its kind in the United States focused exclusively on social media safety and parental awareness in response to emerging threats such as sextortion and artificial intelligence-driven exploitation.
Martin highlighted his personal stake in the issue. “As a father of four, this issue is deeply personal,” said Martin. “No parent should feel helpless watching their child navigate the digital world. Predators are using technology to reach into our homes and harm children through manipulation and threats. This resolution is about awareness, education, and equipping families to protect their children before harm is done.”
Pennycuick pointed out her concerns as chair of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee. “As Chair of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee, I am increasingly concerned about the rise of online generated sexual images of children. Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness Week will help raise awareness about the possible dangers of social media and other internet content inappropriate for our youth,” she said. “We must all take responsibility for protecting our kids from these online predators and send a clear message: the insidious use of social media to harm others will not be tolerated in our Commonwealth.”
Farry emphasized his sense of duty as both a parent and legislator: “As a father and a legislator, I feel a responsibility to do what I can to raise awareness about the growing threat of online exploitation,” he said. “With cases on the rise, it’s more important than ever to take action to protect our children and ensure their safety.”
Brown also noted her longstanding advocacy for child safety: “As a mother and longtime advocate for child safety, I believe we must urgently and collectively confront the serious risks our children face online,” she said. “Designating a week for Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness is a critical step towards raising awareness among families, schools, and communities. It’s time we make this a top priority and take action to protect our kids.”
The resolution follows several legislative steps at both state and federal levels intended to improve protections for children online. In Pennsylvania, Act 125 of 2024 made it illegal to create or distribute intimate or sexual deepfakes involving any person; explicit deepfakes featuring minors were classified as child sexual abuse material under this law.
Act 35 of 2025 further addressed digital impersonation by treating deepfakes as criminal forgery under Title 18—a move that provided law enforcement with new mechanisms against online abuse. Both measures were authored by Pennycuick.
At the national level, Congress passed the Take It Down Act—led by Senator Ted Cruz—which criminalizes nonconsensual deepfake imagery; President Donald J. Trump signed it into law on May 19, 2025.
Reports indicate that incidents are increasing sharply nationwide. The Cyber Tipline received approximately 20.5 million reports related to suspected child exploitation in 2024 alone; over half a million involved online enticement while more than 67,000 cases included AI-generated content (https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline). Reports connected with artificial intelligence rose more than thirteenfold compared with previous years.
Research shows that many victims only receive help after attempting self-harm or suicide; an estimated ninety-eight percent of sextortion cases remain unreported according to recent studies (https://www.thorn.org/blog/sextortion-statistics/). One out of every seven youth victims has reported self-harm linked directly with sextortion experiences.
The legislators hope that designating Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness Week will encourage early intervention through greater community engagement.
