Several online gaming and social media platforms made The National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen List” of mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation.
The list includes Amazon, the Apple App Store, Grok, Discord, Snapchat, Steam, Telegram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and tech products Android and Google Chromebooks, as well as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The majority of those companies’ products target children. Apps such as TikTok and platforms like Steam have grown in popularity, while Google Chromebooks are widely distributed by schools.
Steam’s gaming platform has been referenced as the “Walmart of online gaming,” due to its popularity among those looking to purchase games.
The lack of actual age verification means that anyone can click a box to claim to be over 18 and access sexually explicit content, including violent and sexually abusive games.
In the case of Grok, the center reported that their open source intelligence gathering found that the app builds chatbots to normalize sexual violence, and prostitution/sex trafficking, and image generators to create sexual imagery.
Additionally, an AI companion created by Grok, called “Rudi,” is marketed to kids to create stories. However, after a few prompts, investigators found that “Rudi” was willing to engage in graphic descriptions of sexual encounters.
Zuckerberg, whose company operates multiple social media and messaging platforms, was the only individual on the list.
“Mark Zuckerberg is a major contributor to sexual exploitation online, through his leadership at Meta—that’s why he is named personally to the Dirty Dozen List,” said Haley McNamara, executive director and chief strategy officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“Under his leadership, Meta has consistently prioritized growth and profit over the safety of children. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp have become breeding grounds for child sexual abuse, grooming, sextortion, and sex trafficking. Responsibility lands on his desk.”
The Epoch Times did not immediately receive a response from any of those named on the list.
According to McNamara, previous lists have prompted changes by major companies, including Netflix, Google, Verizon, Walmart, and Hilton.
Since its inception in 2013, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s “Dirty Dozen List” has worked to unify thousands of individuals to call on corporations, government agencies, and organizations to change problematic policies and practices, according to the group’s website.
The 2025 list took a different tack, putting Communications Decency Act Section 230 in all 12 slots on its Dirty Dozen list.
Section 230, which was enacted in 1996 when the internet was still being introduced at scale, provides general immunity for computer services with regard to third-party content generated by users.
The list was released days after a New Mexico jury found that Meta violated state law by failing to appropriately disclose risks to children on its platform, and ordered the tech giant to pay $375 million in damages.
The center is again asking for Congress to sunset Section 230 at a national level, as legislation to do just that makes its way through Congress with the backing of this organization, parents who said their children have been harmed by online platforms, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and others.
Amazon’s sale of childlike sex dolls, Apple App store’s apps like “nudify,” and Telegram’s privacy that “shields predators,” Instagram’s 17 strike policy for suspected sex trafficking, along with an alleged less than 20 percent efficacy rate for teen safety features, were among the other concerns raised by the center.
While not ranked in the organization’s top 12, several online platforms were still identified as concerns and placed on its “watchlist.” They include Roblox, Spotify, Reddit, and Character AI.
