HARRISBURG – To help keep kids safe from potential threats online, the week of August 17-23 would be designated as Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness Week in Pennsylvania under a resolution introduced today by Senator Scott Martin (R-Lancaster).
First created last year, the week-long designation is the first of its kind in the country urging parents, guardians and students to better understand potential threats in the digital world. These include growing threats, such as sextortion, cyberbullying, AI-generated child sexual abuse material, grooming and other dangerous forms of abuse.
“There are new threats emerging online at a rapid pace, and it can be extremely difficult for parents and young people to keep informed about all the different ways criminals seek to exploit children,” Martin said. “This designation recognizes the dangers facing young people online and the importance of protecting them from those who target them through social media, gaming platforms and other digital mediums.”
In 2025, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports of suspected child exploitation, up from 20.5 million the previous year.
The resolution builds on work by the legislature to address digital harms to children. In 2021, the General Assembly established the Task Force on Child Pornography, which led to significant reforms, including updates to statutory terminology to align with national standards. In 2024, the General Assembly passed Act 125 of 2024 to combat AI generated child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). In 2025, legislation to classify deepfakes as digital forgery was signed into law as Act 35 of 2025.
The Senate also recently approved Senate Bill 1050, which would strengthen reporting requirements for AI-generated CSAM; Senate Bill 1090, which would establish commonsense safeguards for AI chatbots accessible by minors; and Senate Resolution 244, which establishes a new Task Force on Child Protection in the Digital Age to review Pennsylvania’s existing statutes, assess emerging technologies, and identify gaps in protections for children online.
In April, Martin also hosted a Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness informational session in partnership with Lampeter-Strasburg High School to bring together experts in law enforcement, student mental health and child protection. The event featured information for parents and students about how to address cyberbullying, sextortion and deepfakes; tips for communication between parents and children on online threats; emerging trends parents should know; and much more.
CONTACT: Jason Thompson