Partial List of Accomplishments for Citizens for Decency

 

• CFD was one of 20 organizations that wrote a letter to leaders of 3 US Congressional committees raising serious alarms about Google and Mozilla/Cloudfare's plans to centralize control of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) system in a way that could undermine or block online child protection tools and services.

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• Lobbied with members of the US Congress, leading to a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee on “Protecting Innocence in an Online World.” (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0qeBwyBNW0&t=1085s ).

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• Participated in the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Summit, an international conference of leaders of organizations and efforts to end sexual exploitation, especially pornography.

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• Participates as a leading member of the Safeguard Alliance, an international group of organizations that works to protect children.

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• Passed an official state resolution in Arizona (HCR2009) declaring pornography a public health crisis.

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• Introduced and lobbied to pass Idaho State bill H0194, which was signed into law by Idaho Governor Brad Little. This law, which amended a previous law CFD passed requiring internet at libraries to be filtered, requires all wifi accessible to minors at public libraries to be filtered.

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• Held the first annual #UniteToFightPorn conference in Rexburg, ID with over 1,100 people in attendance.

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• Integrated the Relationship Attachment Model in Sugar City Salem school district, which trained educators to help students create real relationships and turn away from sexting.

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• Successfully introduced and passed an official Idaho State Resolution (HCR 50) declaring pornography a public health crisis.

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• CEO Craig Cobia attended two different Congressional Briefings on the harm of pornography in Washington DC. Met with US Senators and staff and other nationally prominent nonprofit organizations to describe what we are doing.

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• Have supervised over 80 volunteer interns specifically working on Citizens for Decency projects. One such project was a 28-page research paper completed by approximately fifteen BYU interns over a 2 ½ year period. This paper identified what the anti-tobacco activists did to bring down the big tobacco companies and suggested a five-step plan to reduce the effectiveness and profitability of distributors and producers of pornography.

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• Introduced legislation HB 636 in 2010, now an Idaho State Law, which requires child-friendly Internet filters in all Idaho public schools and a yearly, mandatory, Internet safety education component for both students and teachers.

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• Introduced legislation, HB 205 in 2011, now an Idaho State Law, requiring all Idaho public libraries to have Internet filters to protect children from accessing pornography. HB 205 received support from the Idaho Republican Women’s Organization, the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce Board and from the president of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW), Sue Lynch.

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• Former Idaho State Representative Mack Shirley was interviewed by Focus on the Family Radio, about HB 205, which was broadcast to over 600 affiliate stations across the nation. CEO Craig Cobia was interviewed by BYU TV in May of 2011 for a 20-minute interview, which was broadcast nationally.

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• Hosted five regional anti-pornography conferences. Presenters included Dr. Jill Manning, Dr. Donald L. Hilton Jr., Phil and Vickie Burress, Shane Pope, Clay Olsen, Senator Todd Weiler, and Patrick Trueman. (See statistics of latest conference “Unite to Fight Pornography” included in packet for additional information.)

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• Introduced “Clean Minds Week” at a local school district, featuring district-wide assemblies, as well as parent information meetings in multiple communities.

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• Created Clean for Kids, a group that encourages local businesses to raise their decency standard. One example of success includes the Rexburg Albertson’s store discontinuing sales of a re-occurring extremely inappropriate magazine.

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• Influential in ensuring that all public libraries in Jefferson County, Colorado, have Internet filters. As of September 2011, Jefferson County Public Libraries filter all public computers and personal wireless devices to block online access to sexually explicit images.

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• Instrumental in encouraging Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch to sign a “Dear Colleague Letter,” originating with Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. This letter was written to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the U.S. Department of Justice may recommit to the prosecution of illegal obscenity.

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• Participate yearly in many anti-pornography events such as the Utah Coalition Against Pornography and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation conferences.

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• Hosted anti-pornography fundraisers such as a fun run/5k, a seminar in conjunction with the city of Provo on What You Can Do About Pornography, a charity concert to raise awareness of the anti-pornography movement, and conferences in association with organizations such as Escape Porn.

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• Received mentoring and coaching from several prominent business professionals including the former dean of the Harvard business school.

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• CEO Craig Cobia was invited to attend “The Social Costs of Pornography” symposium on the Princeton University campus.

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• Offered to be part of the invitation-only “D.C. Group”, meeting quarterly in Washington D.C., and became part of the national coalition of organizations dedicated to fighting pornography.

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• Invited to a meeting at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. under the direction of the President of Morality in Media. Participated in a peaceful demonstration outside the Department of Justice to encourage prosecutions of producers and distributors of illegal obscenity.

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• CEO Craig Cobia was nominated by Idaho Senior United States Senator, Mike Crapo, for appointment to a federal committee, which reports to the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, the NTIA Administrator, and members of Congress on ways to promote and to preserve a safe environment for children using the Internet.

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• Facilitated the month of May being officially declared as “Anti-Pornography Month” in Rexburg, ID and Madison County. Rexburg Mayor and City Council voted unanimously to support the resolution, declaring it as such.

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• Received a grant of $1,000 each from both the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Madison School District so the organization could buy and distribute 6,500 Internet safety DVDs, prepared by the Idaho Attorney General’s office, to all families in Rexburg, ID.

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• Visited Dr. Clayton Christensen, internationally renowned Harvard Professor, in Boston. Presented the goals of our organization and for a time he offered to serve on our Executive Advisory Committee.

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• Met with TV and radio host Glenn Beck, who asked how he could help and who also committed future TV and radio time to the organization. We were chosen amongst thousands of persons and organizations who have sought for Mr. Beck’s attention and support.

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• Received unanimous support from the Idaho Republican Women’s Organization to support HB 205 (2011 Idaho Legislative Session.) One of this group’s leaders testified in support of this bill at both House and Senate Education Committee hearings. Also received formal support from the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce Board to support HB 205.