REPORT ACT Sponsored by Sen. Blackburn and Sen. Ossoff passes U.S. Senate
This bill is designed to expand upon the END child exploitation act passed in 2022 which was also sponsored by Sen. Blackburn. The bill was designed to hold Electronic Service Providers more accountable with the reporting requirements to NCMEC as well as provide some additional tools and resources to NCMEC.
“In today’s technological age, children have become increasingly vulnerable to online sexual exploitation,”
Sen. Blackburn
“Our bipartisan bill will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,"
Sen. Ossoff
Overview taken from Sen. Blackburn's website (link at the bottom)
BACKGROUND:
The REPORT Act builds upon Senator Blackburn’s END Child Exploitation Act, which unanimously passed the Senate in 2022.
Last updated in 2018, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children.
Using this system, electronic communication service providers can make reports of activities such as child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), child sex trafficking, enticement of children for sexual acts, and unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child.
Currently, criminal law requires electronic communication service providers to report, as soon as reasonably possible, any CSAM they know is on their sites. The law allows for voluntary reporting of imminent crimes involving child sexual abuse material (i.e., enticement or grooming).
NCMEC makes all reports filed available to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
A knowing and willful failure to report results in fines: $150,000 for the first incident and $300,000 for any second or subsequent violation.
THE REPORT ACT:
Converts the reporting requirements from permissive to mandatory;
Adds sex trafficking of children and enticement crimes to the reporting obligations within 180 days of the bill’s enactment;
Increases penalties for failure to report exploitative content ($600K-$850K on the first offense; $850K-$1M on the second offense);
Increases the time that evidence submitted to the CyberTipline is preserved, allowing law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute (from 90 days to 1 year).
Allows for tipline reporting to NCMEC by people depicted in CSAM as minors and their representatives;
Allows for the cloud storage and transfer of tipline reports from NCMEC to law enforcement;
and Implements security measures to ensure the safe handling and storage of CyberTipline reports.
and Implements security measures to ensure the safe handling and storage of CyberTipline reports.