To the President of the United States and the White House:

We, the undersigned Americans, respectfully call upon the President to consider awarding Chris Hansen the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his decades of investigative journalism and his efforts to expose adults attempting to sexually exploit children online.

At a time when the internet was rapidly becoming part of everyday American life, Hansen helped expose a danger that many families had not yet fully recognized: adults using online anonymity to target and manipulate minors.

Through Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator, Hansen worked with law-enforcement agencies and the organization Perverted-Justice on investigations in which adults who believed they were communicating with minors were confronted on camera. Numerous investigations resulted in law-enforcement action, arrests, and prosecutions.

Among the individuals whose cases became widely known through these investigations were David Kaye, John Kennelly, Anthony Palumbo, Marvin Harrison Smith, and Louis Conradt. Hansen's role was investigative and journalistic; arrests and prosecutions were the responsibility of law enforcement and prosecutors.

His work did something larger than expose individual suspects. It brought the issue of online child exploitation into the homes of millions of Americans.

It sparked conversations among parents about what their children were doing online. It raised awareness of the tactics used by adults seeking sexual contact with minors. And it helped establish online child safety as a subject worthy of sustained public attention.

Hansen continued this work after To Catch a Predator, pursuing additional investigations and using his platform to educate the public about online predators and the risks children face in digital spaces.

A Call to Recognize Public Service
The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or significant public or private endeavors.

We believe Chris Hansen's body of investigative work deserves consideration for that distinction.

This petition is not about celebrating sensational television. It is about recognizing the public impact of bringing the problem of child exploitation into the national conversation.

Children deserve protection. Parents deserve information. And Americans deserve journalists willing to investigate serious threats to public safety.

We respectfully ask the President of the United States to consider Chris Hansen for the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his contributions to investigative journalism, public awareness, and the protection of children from online sexual exploitation.If you believe Chris Hansen's decades of investigative work deserve national recognition, add your name to this petition.

By signing, we are asking the President to consider honoring Chris Hansen with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to investigative journalism and public awareness surrounding online child exploitation.

SIGN THIS PETITION.

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Let the White House know that protecting children online matters.

🇺🇸 For the children. For their families. For a safer internet.