Blake Lively fighting child pornography with new technology

Written by . Published: April 18 2017

Blake Lively is spearheading a new initiative to expose child pornography users to authorities through her work with the Child Rescue Coalition.


The former Gossip Girl star, who is a mom to two young daughters with husband Ryan Reynolds, has been working with the non-profit organization after learning about the charity at an event for beauty brand L'Oreal, for which she is a spokeswoman.

She and founder Carly Asher Yoost are now working to promote new technology that identifies people sharing or downloading child pornography through their Internet Protocol addresses.

"There are millions of files all over the world being traded every single day of child pornography," the actress says. "It's so disturbing. A lot of these people are fathers."

"We hit it off, and we're both passionate about protecting kids," Yoost adds. "We stayed in touch, and she really wanted to help."

Yoost and her team have already partnered with officials in 67 countries, leading to the arrest of 9,000 child predators since the Child Rescue Coalition was established in 2013. The initiative has also helped to rescue over 2,000 abused children, according to Variety.com.

"Our mission is to protect the innocent," explains Yoost. "We try to get (the data) in the hands of law enforcement."

"If you proactively find these predators, you can save so many children," Lively adds.

Blake will be honored for her work with the organization at Variety's Power of Women: New York event at Cipriani Midtown on Friday (21Apr17). She will be feted as Variety's Lifetime Impact Honoree alongside Jessica Chastain, Audra McDonald, broadcaster Gayle King, and former U.S. First Daughter Chelsea Clinton.