Hawley launches Google investigation after 'shocking' child trafficking testimony at Senate hearing

Sen. Josh Hawley launches investigation into Google after hearing reveals alleged failures to remove child sex abuse material with 89,000 victims. Media Hawley launches Google investigation after 'shocking' child trafficking testimony at Senate hearing Missouri senator requests internal policies and communications after hearing revealed over 100M suspected abuse images online in 2023 By Rachel del Guidice Fox News Published March 4, 2026 5:18pm EST Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google close Video Tim Tebow details efforts to stop online child exploitation: 'Nobody wants to talk about it' Tebow Foundation founder Tim Tebow joins 'Fox & Friends' to discuss his efforts to bring an end to online child exploitation as the Renewed Hope Act advances in the House. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! FIRST ON FOX—Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is launching an investigation into Google after holding a "shocking" hearing on child sex trafficking, Fox News Digital has learned. "Yesterday, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which I chair, convened a hearing to investigate gaps in enforcement efforts to stop child sex trafficking," Hawley said in a Wednesday letter to Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer at Google and Alphabet Inc."The testimony was shocking," Hawley wrote in the letter first obtained by Fox News Digital. "Witnesses described an explosion of child sex abuse material (CSAM) online, which surpassed 100 million separate images and videos of suspected abuse in 2023 alone." Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is opening an investigation into Google after his recent hearing on child sex trafficking. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Hawley's Tuesday hearing, titled "Lost and Exploited: Confronting Child Trafficking and the Failure to Protect America’s Most Vulnerable," was held by the Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, and featured activist and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and the mother of a victim, among others. "We also learned at least 89,000 children depicted in these images remain unidentified—suffering without help—in just one single law enforcement database among many," Hawley wrote. "Testimony further established that Google has failed to take robust action to assist survivors." In the letter, Hawley said he is asking Google for, "All internal policies, guidelines, and standard operating procedures currently in effect at Google, YouTube, and any other Alphabet subsidiary relating to the detection, review, removal, and reporting of known and suspected child sexual abuse material." WEST VIRGINIA SUES APPLE, ACCUSES TECH GIANT OF LETTING ICLOUD BECOME HUB FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google and Alphabet Inc., during a visit to the Google for Startups campus in Warsaw. (Damian Bloomberg/Getty Images )Among other requests, Hawley asked for all communications from victims, their families, or legal representation asking Google to remove CSAM from Jan. 1, 2020 to the present, documentation of CyberTipline reports filed with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children from 2020 to the present, and records of instances in which Google allegedly failed to remove reported CSAM within 48 hours. In the letter, Hawley quoted Jane Doe, the mother of the child sex trafficking survivor, who said she continues to receive notifications that images of her infant daughter remain online more than 25 years after the abuse. "I’ve been fighting since day one," Doe said. "That’s all I do. I contact people… I said, if we were famous, if she was a celebrity, those pictures would be down. I said, she’s not famous. She’s famous to me, but evidently not famous enough to the world… I have had a fight with Google about it, saying for the safety of my child, you have to get these images off… these pictures are out there… it’s imperative that you get these things off the computer… they told me I have to contact the webmaster…"Hawley also requested documentation detailing Google’s cooperation with federal, state, and international law enforcement agencies in investigations involving CSAM being distributed on its platforms.TIM TEBOW TELLS STORY OF JESUS THROUGH EYES OF THE CROSS IN REVEALING NEW BOOK Sen. Josh Hawley is requesting Google's internal policies and communications after his hearing revealed over 100 million suspected abuse images online just in 2023. (Don Ryan/AP Photo) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPThe letter also seeks findings from any internal review, audit, or assessment done by Google since Jan. 1, 2020, measuring the effectiveness of its CSAM detection and removal processes.Hawley told Fox News Digital that he is launching an investigation "to get answers on why Big Tech companies are allowing child porn to proliferate on their platforms." "These victims are real people, and they deserve justice. Congress needs to pass my legislation that would allow victims and their families to sue Big Tech. Our children are more important than profit," Hawley added. Related Article Children are at risk of forming romantic bonds with AI chatbots, ex