Attorney General Kwame Raoul marked Safer Internet Day by urging parents, caregivers, and educators to discuss online safety with children. He highlighted the importance of teaching young people how to protect themselves from exploitation and how to respond if they encounter unsafe situations online.
“On Safer Internet Day and every day, families and educators can help children learn how to use technology responsibly,” Raoul said. “New technology, such as artificial intelligence, can offer opportunities, but can also open the door to new dangers for young people online. This Safer Internet Day, I’m encouraging families to learn more about online exploitation, how to avoid it and what to do if you or your child falls victim to it. I will continue to advocate for safety online and to help protect children and young adults from the physical and mental health harms that result from dangerous online activity.”
Raoul encouraged guardians to have conversations with youth about issues like privacy violations, requests for explicit images, sextortion, and the risks posed by artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes. He advised families not only to set household internet safety rules but also to talk openly about children’s activities online, check privacy settings regularly, review friends lists frequently, establish exit plans for unwanted contact, and ensure that children know which adults they can trust if they face threats or unsafe content.
He reminded families that anyone can be a victim of online exploitation. Offenders may demand money or harmful actions from young people; he recommended not complying with such demands as this could escalate the situation. Victims should immediately stop communication with offenders, block them, and report incidents to a trusted adult.
Raoul also suggested viewing “The Digital Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: Protecting Kids in the Age of AI,” a recorded webinar on generative AI risks among youth. Illinois school districts and other organizations are invited to schedule trainings on internet safety for the upcoming school year.
These efforts are part of broader advocacy by Raoul’s office related to social media safety. In January 2026, he joined other attorneys general in urging xAI—the company behind X (formerly Twitter) and chatbot Grok—to strengthen measures preventing nonconsensual intimate image generation and child sexual abuse material. In August 2025, Raoul co-led a coalition calling on major tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and others to implement safeguards against predatory AI chatbots interacting inappropriately with minors.
In 2024, legislation initiated by Raoul was enacted prohibiting AI-created child sexual abuse images involving real or obscene depictions of children. His office filed suit against Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook and Instagram, in October 2023 over alleged business practices targeting youth despite internal research linking platform use with increased risks of depression and other harms. In March 2022, he announced an investigation into TikTok regarding its promotion among children despite known associated health risks.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force with support from the U.S. Department of Justice. The task force investigates crimes involving child exploitation online and provides training for law enforcement agencies statewide—a network spanning more than 200 agencies across local through federal levels. Since 2019, it has received over 76,500 CyberTips resulting in more than 1,180 arrests; since 2006 it has contributed to over 2,500 arrests of sexual predators. In 2025 alone there was a significant increase—45% more reports than in 2024—and over thirty victims were rescued from ongoing abuse that year.
The ICAC Task Force also delivers education programs reaching more than one million parents, teachers and students as well as thousands of law enforcement professionals.
Reports of child sexual exploitation can be submitted at cybertipline.com; suspected abuse can be reported at dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov; local advocacy centers are listed at childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org.
The official website states that the Illinois Attorney General acts as the state’s chief legal officer supporting residents through various services including consumer protection initiatives aimed at vulnerable groups such as workers or seniors while partnering with law enforcement agencies across Illinois.
