On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, within the first Senate Judiciary subcommittee listening to of the 119th Congress, the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism held a listening to entitled “Ending the Scourge: The Want for the STOP CSAM Act.” Subcommittee Chair Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who convened the listening to, and Rating Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced in February that they meant to reintroduce the Strengthening Transparency and Obligations to Shield Kids Affected by Abuse and Mistreatment Act or “STOP CSAM Act”, a complete invoice that seeks to fight the web sexual exploitation of youngsters. First launched in 2023, the Act didn’t obtain a vote on the Senate flooring final Congress, regardless of being unanimously superior by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The STOP CSAM Act, as written in 2023, comprises a number of provisions that will impose new necessities on on-line platforms. The Act would:
- Take away Part 230 immunity for civil claims in opposition to on-line platforms for CSAM-related harms;
- Create a personal proper of motion for victims to file civil lawsuits in opposition to on-line platforms that fail to well timed take away CSAM materials;
- Create a Baby On-line Safety Board on the Federal Commerce Fee that will be answerable for imposing the elimination of CSAM materials and associated pictures and licensed to high quality platforms that fail to conform;
- Take away expertise corporations’ discretion as as to if to report deliberate or imminent little one sexual exploitation offenses of which the supplier has precise information;
- Require that on-line platforms embrace sure further data in NCMEC CyberTipline studies; and
- Mandate that sure on-line platforms difficulty annual transparency studies associated to little one safety efforts.
The Act would additionally increase privateness protections and restitution mechanisms for victims of on-line little one sexual abuse. It could:
- Create a presumption of retaining protected data below seal when little one victims testify in federal court docket; and
- Present the federal judiciary construction and funding to nominate trustees to handle restitution for victims of on-line sexual abuse.
As a result of the STOP CSAM Act has not but been formally launched, it’s unknown if the brand new model of the invoice will differ from the 2023 model.
Witnesses on the subcommittee listening to included little one security advocates, lobbyists, and a survivor of on-line little one sexual exploitation. The witnesses expressed assist for provisions of the STOP CSAM Act that will require expertise corporations to incorporate particular data in CyberTipline studies, difficulty annual transparency studies, and report situations of obvious, deliberate, or imminent little one sexual exploitation crimes. In addition they spoke favorably about provisions of the invoice regarding court-appointed trustees to handle restitution and the overall growth of civil cures for victims of on-line little one sexual exploitation.
Through the listening to, Senators Hawley and Durbin emphasised their shared perspective of the pressing must move the STOP CSAM Act, given, of their view, the proliferation of on-line CSAM, the necessity to give victims improved safeguards and entry to the courts, and the dearth of accountability from expertise corporations in stopping CSAM on their platforms. A typical theme of the listening to was the rivalry that expertise corporations can and will do extra to fight CSAM, with senators and witnesses calling for elevated civil legal responsibility for platforms and contending that platforms have a duty to detect, stop, and well timed report CSAM on their websites.
On-line little one safety stays a precedence this Congress, with renewed curiosity in each the Youngsters On-line Security Act (KOSA) and the Kids and Teenagers’ On-line Privateness Safety Act (COPPA 2.0). Final Congress, members from each side of the aisle and in each chambers expressed considerations that KOSA, COPPA 2.0, and the STOP CSAM Act all had coverage points that also wanted to be addressed. Nonetheless, given renewed curiosity within the matter, and potential assist from the Administration, these payments ought to proceed to be watched carefully.
