Mother shares tragic story of her son’s sextortion as Schumer pushes for online child protection

EAST SYRACUSE, NY — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) visited East Syracuse on Tuesday to urge his colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass legislation aimed at protecting children and teens from the dangers of the internet and social media.

Schumer delivered a speech at Pine Grove Middle School in the East Syracuse Minoa School District, where several local school principals were also in attendance.

“The Internet is a powerful tool and a superhighway that is shaping the lives of our youth. However, it also carries risks if not used with care,” explained ESM Superintendent Dr. Donna DeSiato.

Another guest was Mary Rodee from Potsdam, who lost her son Riley Basford to suicide in March 2021. He died after being a victim of sextortion. NBC3 anchor Megan Coleman shed some light on the issue, leading to a special presentation, “Sextortion & Student Suicides A NBC3 Investigation.”

Schumer is urging the House of Representatives to pass the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), which passed the Senate on a 91-3 vote. The first bill would impose requirements to protect young people online. It would require social media platforms to “incorporate reasonable measures in the design and operation of products or services used by minors to prevent and mitigate certain harms that may result from such use (e.g., sexual exploitation and online bullying).” COPPA 2.0 seeks to strengthen protections regarding the “online collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from children and teens.”

Rodee shared her story with those at the press conference. “This all happened in six hours and ended with him committing suicide,” she said.

It started with Riley accepting a friend request on Facebook from someone named Megan Miller, who convinced him to send explicit photos of herself and then demanded $3,500.

If he didn’t pay, they threatened to share the photos with everyone he knew. This is what’s known as sextortion.

“He was a very happy, funny, good kid. He was the life of the party, very impulsive, that’s part of what made him do what he did, I think. Afraid of embarrassment, afraid of the shame,” Rodee said. “But yeah, absolutely, he didn’t want to die, right? He didn’t suffer from any mental illness, loved his life, had great friends.”

Rodee turned her grief into action and advocated for the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, with support from Senator Schumer.

“They’re demanding that the platforms prevent and mitigate the dangers to our children. Suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and more. These are evil corporations that are targeting these children and luring them in so they can advertise. It’s just gross,” he said. “Put it on the floor of the House and let it be voted on. I’m confident it will pass with the same overwhelming majority that we passed it in the Senate.”

Rodee is heading back to Washington, D.C., to try to get lawmakers in the House of Representatives to listen to her story. Hopefully, she says, she can force them to vote on the bills.

“At least let them do some damage control, give them a duty of care, right? The basic things that every company has to do,” Rodee said. “I can’t stop until I know that we hold the big tech companies accountable. They just can’t go on designing a product and not care about their users.”