S395

The New York State Senate passed legislation requiring the state's Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking to investigate connections between social media and human trafficking and issue an actionable report. Senate Print 395, sponsored by Sen. Cleare, passed on a 62-0 roll call vote. The bill addresses what Cleare described as a critical gap in anti-trafficking efforts, noting that between 30 and 41 percent of sex trafficking victims were recruited online in recent years, and that online solicitation accounted for 81 percent of all federal sex trafficking prosecutions filed since 2000. The existing task force, established in 2007, will be tasked with developing a comprehensive, multi-agency blueprint to combat human trafficking through social media platforms. The measure takes effect immediately.