Sextortion bill aims to educate Michigan students about online crime

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Under a new bill, students in certain grades would learn about Michigan's sexual extortion law, which lays out what sextortion is, along with the punishment for people convicted of this crime.

The backstory:

Sextortion involves threatening or coercing a person into sending explicit photos. Sometimes, the person pushing for the photos may claim to already have inappropriate photos of the victim, and threaten to release the images if the victim does not send more photos or money. With advancing technology, the photos may not even be real, as there have been cases where artifical intelligence is used to create the images used in such schemes.

Oftentimes, the victims believe they are talking to someone their own age but are actually being pursued by someone older.

According to the FBI, sextortion is a rising crime, and children and teens are often the target. The FBI said this increase in sextortion cases has also led to an increase in suicides.

Proposed law:

House Bill 4848, bipartisan legislation introduced last week, would add language to the state's sexual extortion law to ensure that students in grades six to 12 are educated about sextortion and Michigan's law. School personnel and parents would receive information about this law, as well.

The law would also require school boards to hold a yearly meeting where they distribute free educational materials about sextortion from the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or the Office for Victims of Crime.

Dig deeper:

Under Michigan's sexual extortion law, minors who threaten to release explicit photos or videos can be charged with a misdemeanor, while adults face felony charges.

Minors convicted of sextortion can be sentenced to up to a year behind bars. Adults convicted of sextortion could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, depending on the facts of the case. For instance, targeting a person under 18 carries a max sentence of 25 years.

Safety tips:

The FBI has provided tips to avoid becoming a victim of sextortion:

Be selective about what you share online. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you.
Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that people are who they claim to be. Images can be altered or stolen. In some cases, predators have even taken over the social media accounts of their victims.
Be suspicious if you meet someone on one game or app and this person asks you to start talking on a different platform.
Be in the know. Any content you create online—whether it is a text message, photo, or video—can be made public. And nothing actually "disappears" online. Once you send something, you don’t have any control over where it goes next.
Be willing to ask for help. If you are getting messages or requests online that don’t seem right, block the sender, report the behavior to the site administrator, or go to an adult. If you have been victimized online, tell someone.

The FBI also has questions that guardians can ask their children to help keep them safe from online predators:

When you’re online, has anyone you don’t know ever tried to contact or talk to you?
What did you do or what would you do if that happened?
Why do you think someone would want to reach a kid online?
You know, it’s easy to pretend to be someone you’re not online and not every person is a good person. Make sure you block or ignore anything that comes in from someone you don’t know in real life.
Has anyone you know ever sent a picture of themselves that got passed around school or a team or club?
What’s possible anytime you send someone a picture?
What if that picture were embarrassing?
Can you think about how someone could use that kind of picture against a person?
I read an article today about kids being pressured to send images and video of their bodies to a person they met online. Have you ever heard about anything like that? Sometimes they were being threatened and harassed—scary stuff.
You know, if you are ever feeling like something is going on—online or off—that feels scary or wrong or over your head, my first concern is going to be helping you. You can always come to me.

The Source: Michigan's sexual extortion law and information from the FBI were used in this report.