Country musician John Rich partnered with the Department of Homeland Security for a livestream on internet safety for parents, specifically how they can protect their children amid the “wild west” of the internet.
The livestream, which aired on Rich’s X account, featured DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who discussed how the internet has “opened new doors” for online predators targeting children. This prompted DHS to launch the “Know2Protect” campaign to inform parents about precautions they can take to protect their children. Following Wednesday night’s livestream, Rich noted the 36 million reports of children being targeted online in one year, adding that internet predators have become “really slick” with their actions.
“They are grooming these kids through very innocent-looking ways until it’s not, and then they lower the boom,” Rich stated on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “It’s extortion, there’s a word called ‘sextortion’ that I’ve learned a lot about, so I wanted to get with DHS and do a livestream.”
The livestream was created to be appropriate for children in sixth grade so they can learn with their parents about the dangers of internet predators. He thanked Noem for helping him and endorsing the event, which currently has 1.7 million views on X as of Thursday afternoon.
A conversation about online child predators with Homeland Security and John Rich: PLS Repost! https://t.co/zChy4K5HQU
— John Rich
(@johnrich) April 23, 2025
The livestream also featured Rich in a one-on-one discussion with DHS Special Agent Dennis Fetting, who is also a father. Fetting called the targeting of children “equal opportunity” among predators, and encouraged people to report incidents related to internet predators at the Know2Protect tipline: 833-591-KNOW.
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President Donald Trump reposted the stream on X, which Rich called “pretty incredible.”
Ahead of the 2024 election, Trump promised to revive Title 42, a policy from his first term, to end “child trafficking crises by returning all trafficked children to their families in their home countries.” His promise was made after he hosted a screening of the film Sound of Freedom at his golf course in New Jersey. The film detailed the story of former DHS agent Tim Ballard, who quit his job to rescue children from human trafficking overseas.
