WASHINGTON—Today, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism is holding a hearing to examine the Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act (STOP CSAM Act). The bill’s goal is laudable and one NetChoice strongly agrees with, but its actual approach will fail to accomplish this goal—and could unfortunately result in more censorship and less safety and security in digital spaces.
Under existing law, any website that finds child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is already legally required to take it down and report it to NCMEC or face liability. And websites and social media businesses are voluntarily searching for CSAM and reporting it to NCMEC. However, less than 1% of those reports are actually investigated due to a lack of capacity.
Congress should review and pass the Invest in Child Safety Act, which would give law enforcement needed funding to increase their resources so they can properly investigate reports of abuse online and ensure predators are off the internet and off our streets.
Congress should also work with President Trump to make sure the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 is reauthorized and being enforced. This law aimed to create, “a strong nationwide network of highly trained law enforcement experts to track down these offenders and put them behind bars,” but a December 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that the DOJ was not complying with the law.
This year, the Trump administration and Congress can win on this issue. By passing the INVEST in Child Safety Act, Congress would fill existing funding gaps for law enforcement, and by bringing the DOJ back into compliance with the PROTECT Act, President Trump and his administration would be able to stop predators pursuing children online.
“Lawmakers are right on with the goal of protecting children online. Despite good intentions, this specific bill fails to address the core of the problem they’re trying to solve: to keep young people safe and secure online. It incentivizes censorship with vague, unclear standards, threatening Americans’ access to lawful, free speech, and shifts the focus away from stopping cybercriminals and predators,” said Amy Bos, NetChoice Director of State and Federal Affairs.
Bos continued: “Instead, Congress should pass the INVEST in Child Safety Act to provide critical funding for investigations. They should also work with President Trump and his DOJ to ensure the PROTECT Our Children Act is enforced, helping cops remove predators from the internet and the streets. NetChoice strongly supports finding the right path to increase online safety, and we hope to work with Congress and the White House to achieve this goal.”
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.