ONTARIO, Calif.—In a unanimous vote April 15, Gateway Seminary trustees elected Adam Groza as the seminary’s eighth president during their spring 2024 meeting. His term begins May 13.

“I came back to California in 2010 to be part of Gateway Seminary because I believe raising ministry leaders in the western United States is a necessity for Southern Baptists,” Groza said.

“I still believe in this mission, and I am humbled to be entrusted with this responsibility.”

Groza, 48, was born in Pasadena, Calif., about 30 miles west of the seminary’s campus in Ontario. He grew up in Arizona and graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor’s in political science. Then he earned a master of divinity from The Master’s Seminary in northern Los Angeles.

Product of SBC investment in the western U.S.

“Dr. Groza is a product of Southern Baptists’ investment in the western United States, and we are extraordinarily blessed to have a new leader who will continue Gateway’s mission of developing leaders in the West for the world,” said Phil Kell, Gateway trustee and retired president of the Baptist Foundation of California.

“With nearly two decades of leadership in academia and a deep commitment to serve Southern Baptist churches, Dr. Groza is poised to further shape the seminary into a leading training center for the next generation of pastors and ministers.”

Groza earned a Ph.D. and a Master of Theology degree in philosophy of religion at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in seminary, he was ordained for ministry at Fairview Baptist Church in Rhome.

Before joining Gateway in 2010 as vice president for enrollment and student services, Groza served Southwestern Seminary and Scarborough College as director of admissions.

Groza was announced as the official nominee April 2 by the chair of the search committee, J. Robert White, who served 26 years as executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

“It was clear from our first interview with Dr. Groza that he possesses the integrity, godly character and academic experience to lead Gateway Seminary into the future,” White said.

In addition to serving as vice president at Gateway, Groza is also an associate professor of philosophy of religion. He also serves as a research fellow at the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a teaching fellow at the Agricola Theological Institute in Finland and teaches regularly at California Baptist University.

Groza and his wife of 23 years, Holly, who is also a southern California native, have four children, Cosette, 19; Charlie, 17; Christian, 15; and Cate, 13.

Trustees also approved Groza’s nomination of Kristen Ferguson as vice president of enrollment and student services.

Ferguson joined Gateway in 2016 as director of online education and associate professor of educational leadership. In 2022, she was appointed associate dean of educational effectiveness.

Ferguson serves as chair of the SBC’s Committee on Resolutions and is a research fellow for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Trustees also approved the 2024-2025 academic budget of $12.9 million, an increase of 3 percent over the previous year.

CHICAGO (RNS)—Frederick D. Haynes III, who succeeded Jesse Jackson as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has resigned suddenly from leading the Chicago-based civil rights organization.

“After continual prayer and deliberation, I have decided to step down from the position of Chief Executive Officer and President of Rainbow Push Coalition (RPC), effective immediately,” Haynes said in a statement issued April 16 on Rainbow PUSH letterhead.

Haynes, the pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas for four decades, could not be reached immediately for additional comment.

In a video statement, he called his work succeeding Jackson a “signal honor” but said it was time for him to continue his work in a different way.

“I felt it necessary, in light of the huge challenges faced by our community, in light of the challenges faced by this nation and world during this consequential year, to move in a different direction,” he said in the video statement posted on Instagram.

“I will continue the fight for justice. I will continue to be a prophetic witness. I will just do it in another lane while continuing to honor the work of Rainbow PUSH and Rev. Jackson.”

The Associated Press reported Jackson said Rainbow PUSH had accepted the resignation of Haynes and said they would continue as “partners in the fight for peace, civil rights and economic justice.”

He said his son, Yusef Jackson, would continue in his role as the chief operating officer of Rainbow PUSH.

In July, when the transfer of leadership was announced, the elder Jackson said he would continue to be part of its work.

“I am looking forward to this next chapter where I will continue to focus on economic justice, mentorship, and teaching ministers how to fight for social justice,” he said in a statement at the time. “I will still be very involved in the organization and am proud that we have chosen Rev. Dr. Haynes as my successor.”

Haynes, who is triply aligned with the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc., Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. and American Baptist Churches USA, told Religion News Service in a July interview he was comfortable adding the additional role.

“I don’t know that it will be that much of a new juggle, because I’ve been blessed to pastor Friendship-West for 40 years, and we have built a solid infrastructure,” he said at the time. “I have a great staff, a wonderful church, quite supportive. And the work I’ll be doing at Rainbow Push is, in reality, a larger platform of work I’ve always been doing.”

‘Helped stabilize Rainbow PUSH’

Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, lauded Haynes’ work in a statement posted on social media and said he appreciated his colleague’s contributions to Rainbow PUSH.

“As someone who has been a student and mentee of Rev. Jesse Jackson since I was 12 years old, words cannot express my gratitude to Rev. Haynes for sharing his time away from his mammoth ministry and youth church responsibilities,” Sharpton said.

“He has helped stabilize Rainbow PUSH as Rev. Jackson’s health became more challenging. As Rev. Haynes returns to his full-time work in his unparalleled … social justice ministry, which is needed more than ever in a crucial election year, I look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder with him to preserve the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson.”

The coalition’s history dates to 1966, when Martin Luther King Jr. appointed Jackson to direct the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, boycotting white businesses that did not employ Black Americans.

In 1971, Jackson founded PUSH (which first stood for People United to Save Humanity and later, People United to Serve Humanity), according to the coalition’s website.

In 1996, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition formed from the merger of PUSH with the National Rainbow Coalition, creating a civil rights organization with an aim for economic and educational equality.

SEYMOUR, Tenn. (BP)—Dan Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, Tenn., has become the sixth nominee for president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the 2024 SBC annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis.

Chris Kendall, senior pastor of Oak City Baptist Church in Seymour, Tenn., informed the Baptist and Reflector April 11 of his intention to nominate Spencer, who has been the pastor at First Baptist in Sevierville since 2011.

Kendall said he is a Southern Baptist by choice, and he loves the SBC for two primary reasons—the autonomy of the local church and the spirit of cooperation.

“Over the past several years, our Southern Baptist network has been marked by controversy and contention. I believe that Dan Spencer is the unifier that would benefit our collective to refocus on what matters most. It’s the people that God has put before us to reach with the gospel and make disciples,” he said.

“His love for God and people has positioned him to make the necessary biblical decisions (as a leader) when it comes to faith and practice. … Dan is competent to lead at the denominational level. He also has what’s most essential—the character to back it up.”

Spencer has a long Southern Baptist heritage. He is the great-great nephew of M.E. Dodd, “the father of the Cooperative Program” and the great-great grandson of George Martin Savage, who was president of Union University and Dodd’s father-in-law.

His father, Jerry Spencer, has been a Southern Baptist evangelist and pastor since 1957.

Spencer was called to ministry in 1986 while on a youth choir tour/mission trip to Toronto, Canada, from his home church of Brownsville Baptist Church in Brownsville, Tenn.

Spencer has been involved in Southern Baptist life more than two decades. He preached at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in 2001 and was a member of the SBC Committee on Committees in 2005. Spencer served as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention from 2009 to 2011 and served as a director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board from 2015 to 2019.

During his tenure at First Baptist in Sevierville, the church has been one of Tennessee’s leaders in baptisms and in giving through the Cooperative Program.

In 2023, the church gave $542,915 through the Cooperative Program, or 9.09 percent of $5,972,068 in undesignated gifts. Also last year, the church reported 64 baptisms and $659,425 in gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Kendall believes Spencer has the ability to “rally the diverse collective of churches and pastors together to master and major on the main thing—the Great Commission.”

Kendall added he believes Spencer would complement the work of Jeff Iorg, the new president / CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

“He would be the right fit for Dr. Iorg in this inaugural annual meeting for our new EC president,” he said.

Spencer joins fellow Tennessee pastor Jared Moore of Cumberland Homesteads Baptist Church in Crossville as a nominee, as well as Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C.; Clint Pressley, Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.; Mike Keahbone, First Baptist Church, Lawton, Okla.; and David Allen, professor and dean at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Cordova, Tenn.

Kelly Knott resigned as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in Fort Worth effective April 12.

More than a dozen Christian leaders—including the executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention—sent a letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson April 17 urging Congress to protect religious liberty in Eastern Europe by supporting Ukraine.

“We remind Congress that religious freedom is a basic human right that must be protected everywhere. We pray Congress has the courage to stand in solidarity with people of faith. Ukrainian Christians deserve the freedom to worship in peace and embrace their faith without fear,” the letter states.

“We call on Congress to provide Ukraine with the financial and military support required to defend herself, stop the bloodshed, and secure freedom of religion within her borders.”

Previously, the Ukraine Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches made a similar appeal to Johnson in a March 26 letter, and a group of Southern Baptists and Ukrainian Baptists sent an April 8 letter to Johnson urging support for Ukraine.

‘Widespread, vicious persecution’

The April 17 letter from a coalition led by Gary Marx, president of the Defenders of Faith and Religious Freedom in Ukraine, states Evangelical and Protestant Christians in Russian-controlled areas “are being persecuted, harassed, intimidated, imprisoned, tortured, mutilated and killed—simply for worshipping God as they see fit.”

“We are pained and shocked by the widespread, vicious persecution of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine by Russian forces. Russia is waging a war against Evangelical and Protestant Christians at a scale likened to ‘cultural genocide,’” the letter states.

The letter accuses Russian forces of damaging and looting churches and of killing pastors and priests “in cold blood.”

“We cannot stay silent in the face of this evil. … We must rise together to protect and defend our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted and killed for their faith,” the letter states.

“We have a duty to stop Russia from expanding its religiously oppressive legacy to Ukraine. We implore Congress to fight back against the horrors being committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.”

Arkansas Baptist leader Rex Horne signed the letter to Johnson, joining Shonda Werry, president of the Ukraine Orphans Project; Tim Head, executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; and popular author Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan.

Other signers included Mike Hamlet, senior pastor of First Baptist North Spartanburg in South Carolina; Ty Childers, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C.; Steve Durham, senior pastor of Sunset Hills Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn.; Dale Armstrong, director of the American Pastors Network International; and Chad Connelly, president of Faith Wins.

Hkalam Samson, former president and general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar, has been released from Myitkyina Prison in Burma’s Kachin State.

Sources related to the Baptist World Alliance and 21Wilberforce confirmed Samson’s release, one year after receiving a six-year prison sentence.

Ah Le Lakang, general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Churches USA, said Samson was released at 1 p.m. on April 17 as part of an amnesty in celebration of Myanmar’s New Year.

Samson was “warmly welcomed” by convention staff and church members “in the hall of the Kachin Baptist Convention,” he added.

He quoted Samson’s attorney, Dau Nan: “He was freed from Myitkyina Prison today to mark Myanmar’s New Year. He is at home now.”

Ah Le Lakang thanked Samson’s attorney, religious leaders and the international community “for their tireless support and effort” in securing Samson’s release.

Samson, chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly and critic of human rights abuses by the ruling Burmese military, was sentenced last year on charges of unlawful association, defaming the state and terrorism.

At the time, BWA General Secretary Elijah Brown called Samson’s sentence “a grave injustice” and called on churches to pray for an end to his “unjust imprisonment.”

Samson had been arrested on Dec. 5, 2022, at the Mandalay International Airport. At the time he was attempting to travel to Bangkok, reportedly for a medical procedure.

Samson was president of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar from 2018 to 2022, and he previously served two terms as the convention’s general secretary, from 2010 to 2018.

In April 2021, two months after the military coup in Myanmar, Samson joined in issuing a call for global prayer and advocacy on behalf of the nation.

Roy Medley, general secretary emeritus of the American Baptist Church USA and executive director of the Burma Advocacy Group, expressed thanksgiving for Samson’s release.

“The hearts of all who are part of the Burma Advocacy Group rejoiced at the news of Dr. Samson’s release from prison. Collectively, we have prayed and worked for this day. To God be the glory,” Medley said.

“This fiercely courageous spokesperson for religious liberty and freedom chose to suffer with and for the people of Burma when he turned down the offers of asylum that were presented to him when he was last in the U.S. to testify about religious persecution in Burma by the junta.

“Even while he was in prison, he continued to minister to others and through his example and preaching many embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, the Burma Advocacy Group pledges to continue our prayers and work until all of Burma is released from the shackles of tyranny.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated about an hour after it initially was posted to include the statement from Roy Medley and the Burma Advocacy Group. On April 18, The Irrawaddy online news outlet, founded by Myanmar exiles in Thailand, reported Samson was taken back into custody, along with his wife, in the predawn hours after his release. The Baptist Standard will continue to monitor the situation and report new developments when they are confirmed.

Roger A. Paynter, former Texas Baptist pastor, died March 6 after complications from a stroke. He was 74. He was born in Ardmore, Okla., to Roger Allen Paynter and Juanita Goss Paynter. He attended Oklahoma State University to play football as a redshirt freshman but transferred to Baylor University. While he was at Baylor, he served as youth minister at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco. After graduating from Baylor in 1972, he pursued a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and served as a pastoral intern at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville. He later completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School. He was ordained in 1975 and served as associate pastor at The Church at Highland Park in Austin. He went on to be senior pastor at Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., and First Baptist Church in Austin, retiring in 2014. He most recently led the congregation at First Christian Church in Smithville. Paynter served 12 years as adjunct professor of homiletics at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and adjunct professor of spirituality for two years. He was also a visiting lecturer in homiletics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and at International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. He was president and founding board member of the first Texas location of the Samaritan Pastoral Counseling Center, providing free and low-cost counseling services—first in Nacogdoches, then in Waco and Austin. He was appointed co-chair of the Racial Reconciliation Task Force by the mayors of Jackson, Miss., and Austin. He created a chapter of Interfaith Hospitality Network in Austin, recruiting and organizing places of worship around the city to provide shelter for the unhoused. He also served on the boards of Baptist Women in Ministry, Seton Cove, Habitat for Humanity, the Baptist House of Studies at Duke, the Baptist Board at TCU, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists. He is survived by son Grayson Paynter and his wife Kelly, daughter Mary Kathryn Paynter, two grandchildren, sisters Maita Smith and Laura Lee Graham Flynn, and his former wife of 44 years, Suzii Youngblood Paynter March.

Lott Carey, a historically Black Baptist missional organization, expressed “unwavering solidarity with the people of Haiti during this time of unprecedented crisis.”

In an April 16 public statement, Lott Carey pledged continued support for missions partners in Haiti and called on the international community to “join in prayer and support for Haiti.”

Turmoil in Haiti—still reeling from a devastating hurricane in 2010 that displaced hundreds of thousands of people—grew worse after the July 2, 2021, assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Violent criminal gangs have seized control over large areas of the country. The United Nations Human Rights Office reported 4,451 people killed and 1,668 injured due to gang violence last year. Already in the first quarter of this year, at least 1,554 have been killed and 826 injured.

“The current situation in Haiti is dire. Gang violence has escalated, leading to a humanitarian disaster that has left millions in need of urgent assistance,” Lott Carey stated. “The recent gang war has resulted in thousands of deaths and has displaced more than 362,000 people, creating a state of fear and uncertainty.”

While violence initially centered on the Port-au-Prince area, its impact has spread into rural areas, as supply lines have been disrupted and grocery prices have increased dramatically.

“This has exacerbated the hunger crisis, with 4.4 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity,” Lott Carey stated, pointing out it likely will grow even worse during the rapidly approaching hurricane season.

Texans on Mission—historically known as Texas Baptist Men—announced earlier this month it sent funds to help its in-country missions partner, Good for Haiti, respond to immediate hunger needs in rural areas.

“In response to these challenges, Lott Carey pledges our support for the Strategic Union of Baptist Churches, the Haiti Baptist Convention, Mission of Grace and other partners in Haiti,” Lott Carey stated. “We have provided emergency aid, supported education and sent volunteers to assist in relief efforts. Our commitment to the Haitian people remains steadfast.”

Lott Carey has maintained a partnership with the Strategic Union of Baptist Churches of Haiti (L’Union Strategique des Eglises Baptistes d’Haiti) since 1916.

 “We call on the international community to join us in prayer and support for Haiti,” Lott Carey stated. “We urge an end to the conflict and for peace to be restored.

“It is our fervent hope that through collective efforts, we can help alleviate the suffering and bring about a brighter future for Haiti.”

LENEXA, Kansas (BP)—David Crowther, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., will be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention first vice president.

Steve Dighton, pastor emeritus of Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, Kan., announced he will nominate Crowther at the 2024 SBC annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis.

“David Crowther is a young dynamic leader and one who would thrive in this position of leadership,” Dighton said.

“He is humble, a servant leader, a gifted preacher and a loving shepherd. He is a consensus builder and desires to see us flourish in the years to come.”

Crowther became Immanuel’s senior pastor in November 2019. He previously served churches in North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.

He currently is first vice president of the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists.

Dighton says Immanuel Church “has grown numerically, increasing baptisms, mission offerings and mission giving,” under Crowther’s leadership.

Crowther has also helped the church to increase Cooperative Program giving, Dighton added.

In 2023, the church reported 557 people in average worship attendance and 41 baptisms, according to the SBC Annual Church Profile. The church gave $72,636 (5 percent) of $1,455,921 in undesignated offerings to the Cooperative Program; $25,833 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $992 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

Crowther holds a bachelor’s degree from Anderson University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate in philosophy from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He and his wife Laura have three children.

He joins Michael Clary as an announced candidate to be nominated for SBC first vice president.

Blessed Are the Rest of Us: How Limits and Longing Make Us Whole

By Micha Boyett (Brazos Press)

Blessed Are the Rest of Us offers a fresh reading of the Beatitudes through the eyes of a mom of a nonverbal autistic child with Down syndrome.

Jesus challenged his followers to exercise their spiritual imaginations, envisioning a way of living that prioritizes the vulnerable with all their vulnerabilities. Micha Boyett challenges readers to reconsider human flourishing—blessedness—as based on innate worth rather than achievement. She provides a painfully beautiful and honest look at life as it is, with more than occasional glimpses of life lived according to “God’s dream” for humanity.

Boyett invites readers inside her home, transparently displaying her family’s strengths and struggles. She describes how she and her husband Chris dealt with the prenatal tests that revealed their third child, Ace, would be born with an extra chromosome and all its accompanying physical and developmental challenges. She describes painfully enduring the loss of an imagined child who never existed and joyfully embracing the reality of Ace as he is. She tells how a God-given hunger for justice led her and her husband to advocate for their son in the school system.

Some readers may be tempted to dismiss Blessed Are the Rest of Us when they get to the chapter on peacemaking, but that would be a mistake. Boyett describes how her church’s pastor and its board of elders—of which she was part—led their congregation to reconsider its traditional views about sexual orientation and gender identity. She acknowledges mistakes in how the discussion surrounding LGBTQ inclusion was handled by church leaders—herself included—while continuing to defend their decision.

But the real heroes of the chapter are Leah and Jared—a couple in their church who were the Boyetts’ closest friends and whose son shared a birthday with Ace. Leah and Jared continue to hold to a traditional understanding of what the Bible teaches regarding sexuality and gender, but they refuse to quit loving Micha and Chris Boyett when they end up on different sides of a divisive issue.

Blessed Are the Rest of Us steers clear of easy answers and sentimental platitudes. Instead, it reframes the blessed life and offers an honest-to-God look at grace-filled living.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard

• Lesson 2 in the Connect360 unit “The Search for Wisdom: Words to Live By” focuses on Proverbs 2:1-15.

A “rite” could be a type of formal ceremony or a type of custom, and in either case, it represents something being passed on from one person to another. In this case, think of God as the wise Father passing his wisdom to his faithfully obedient child. Interestingly enough, there are biblical scholars who point to this chapter as a type of poem, which could be easily shared from one person to the next. This gives a formality to what you are reading right now.

As you read these verses, imagine that you are sitting with God, your Father, and he is passing on what he has to you. Much like giving an heirloom or a meaningful piece of family history to a descendant, wisdom is that sacred treasure that is being shared. Because of your faithful obedience with God, relating to him as family, God is saying now you will understand and be wise.

If “wisdom” is the umbrella term, the parts that make up this umbrella include understanding, discretion and means of rescue. This proves that wisdom itself, while it is so simple and yet so deep, has a way of impacting your life in every way from big to small. Wisdom will help you as you seek out God’s overall will for your life, just like wisdom will help you decide whether or not to buy that car or eat that fatty meal. There is no limitation to God’s wisdom, because it can inform and transform the whole life.

On your lifelong search for God’s wisdom, you will find that as he reveals it to you, you will recognize how it benefits you and how it protects you. Much is said here about how it rescues you from wicked ways as well as wicked people who are trying to lead you astray. This theme of wicked ones will come up throughout the rest of the book, because there are adversaries to God’s wisdom as well as God’s children who live his wisdom.

As a closing idea for this section, think about what rites of passages you have heard of. If you are thinking of tribal groups around the world, one example would be the “walkabout” that takes place in the Australian aboriginal groups. If you are thinking of religious groups, Jews have their “bar mitzvahs” or “bat mitzvahs.” Around the world, there are rites of passage—some that are sacred and some that are hardly noticeable. But in all these, there is an idea of something passing from an older one to the younger one. What would it look like if our churches had a rite of passage that passes on the wisdom of one generation to another? Most importantly, what if we reflected these as sharing God as the source of all wisdom?

God is inviting you to meet him as your Father, just as Solomon invited the first listeners of Proverbs to come near and meet him. Solomon is not the original source of the wisdom he had and shared; God is the original. Let’s make time to come near to God and ask him to share his wisdom with us.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

WASHINGTON (BP)—Many turn to LinkedIn for updates on industry insiders, but among the billion professionals featured alongside respected companies are sexual exploitation leaders such as Pornhub and OnlyFans.

CashApp is popular for electronic payments, but a 17-year-old boy committed suicide after he became a victim of sexual extortion or “sextortion” by criminals who threatened to ruin his life unless he paid them, and only through CashApp.

Nude photos of your daughter are all over the internet, but she pleads innocence. Turns out, her classmates snapped her photo and generated “deepfake” nude images, likely using software shared on Microsoft’s GitHub, where more than 100 million software code writers worldwide collaborate in developing programs.

GitHub’s open-source design allows “anyone to access, use, change, and share software” developed by such giants as Google, Amazon, Twitter, Meta, and Microsoft, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said, making GitHub the “most prolific space” for AI development and “a major facilitator of the growing crimes of image-based sexual abuse.”

LinkedIn, CashApp and GitHub are among those making the center’s 2024 Dirty Dozen List for “facilitating, enabling, and even profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation.”

“No corporation should be hosting any type of sexual abuse and exploitation but we certainly don’t expect places like LinkedIn to be hosting and perpetuating sexual abuse and exploitation,” said Lina Nealon, vice president and director of corporate advocacy for the center.

“So, we found that LinkedIn is providing a platform for many exploitative companies, most particular PornHub. LinkedIn is normalizing them as a job like any other, as a company like any other.”

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation accused industry leaders of various forms of exploitation including child sexual abuse, rape, sexual extortion, prostitution, sex trafficking, image-based abuse and other evils, documented by the center’s staff including researchers and legal experts.

“These (12) entities exert enormous influence and power politically, economically, socially and culturally, with several corporations on this list enjoying more resources in global recognition than entire nations,” Nealon said.

“Most of the companies we’re calling out have lofty corporate responsibility statements and have launched ethical AI task forces,” Nealon said. “We’re challenging them to actually live up to those statements and fulfill their social obligations to do something.”

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation calls out:

• Apple, accusing the tech giant of facilitating abuse by refusing to scan for child sex abuse material, hosting dangerous apps with “deceptive” age ratings and descriptions, and neglecting to set default safety features for teens.
• Cloudflare, a “a platform for sex buyers and traffickers” that claims a desire to “build a better internet,” but provides services “to some of the most prolific prostitution forums and deepfake sites.”
• Discord as a “hotspot for dangerous interactions and deepfakes.” Exploiters and pedophiles easily contact and groom children on the site, luring children away from home, enticing children into sending sexually explicit images, and sharing sexually explicit images and deepfakes with each other.
• Meta, with its launch of end-to-end encryption, open-sourced AI, and virtual reality “unleashing new worlds of exploitation.” Meta platforms Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp “have consistently been ranked for years as the top hotspots for a host of crimes and harms,” the national center said, noting pedophile networks where members share child sex abuse material, contact children and promote children to abusers. The sites enable sex trafficking, sextortion, and image-based sexual abuse, the center said.  In an April 11 blog post, Instagram announced it was implementing new tools to protect users—particularly young people—from sexual exploitation, including a feature that automatically blurs nude images in direct messages.
• Reddit is a hotspot for sexploitation, the center said, citing child sex abuse material, sex trafficking, and image-based sexual abuse and pornography. The content will be further monetized if Reddit succeeds in going public, the national center said.
• Roblox, where users with such names as “RaipedLittleGirl” regularly target children among Roblox’s 54 million daily users, bombarding them with sexually explicit content generated through artificial intelligence, grooming them for sexual abuse and luring them from their homes. The center calls out the $2.8 billion platform, popular with preteens, for not embracing “common sense child protection measures.”
• Spotify, a music streaming app the center said also hosts sexually explicit images, sadistic content and networks trading child sex abuse material. The national center accused Spotify of pervasive hardcore pornography and sexual exploitation.
• Telegram, promoted as a dark web alternative, has instead unleashed a new era of exploitation, the center said, describing the app as a safe haven for criminal communities globally including sexual torture rings, sextortion gangs, deepfake bots and ot