The hearing occurs against the backdrop of what appears to be growing momentum to pass child online safety legislation. In 2023, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) both advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee without opposition. Hauling some of tech’s most high-profile figures before Congress to discuss how to stamp out child sexual exploitation online, a bipartisan problem with near-universal agreement on its merits, could be a political strategy to rally support for proposed legislation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also hosted a hearing last February on protecting children online, which featured witnesses from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the American Psychological Association (APA), social media reform advocates, and more. Since last year’s hearing, in addition to KOSA and COPPA 2.0, Senators have introduced a number of bills designed to prevent the exploitation of kids online, including:
The STOP CSAM Act: This bill would allow victims of online sexual exploitation to sue social media platforms that promoted or facilitated the abuse, make it easier for victims to ask tech companies to remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and strengthen the CyberTipline reporting requirements. The bill advanced to the Senate by Unanimous Consent on May 11, 2023.
The EARN IT Act: The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act) would establish a “National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention” and amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to narrow the liability protection it affords platforms for claims related to CSAM. Several versions of this bill have been introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee going back to 2020, all passing the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously; the amended 2023 version advanced on May 5, 2023.
The SHIELD Act: The Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act would establish federal criminal liability for both individuals who distribute “intimate visual depictions,” or nudes, without a person’s consent, and fill in gaps in existing law to prosecute persons sharing explicit images of children. The bill was approved by voice vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 11, 2023.
The Project Safe Childhood Act: This bill modernizes the investigation and prosecution of online child exploitation crimes, allowing federal prosecutors and law enforcement to work together using new technology to quickly rescue child victims and arrest offenders. The bill passed the Senate on Oct. 24, 2023,, but presently there is no companion bill in the House.
The REPORT Act: This bill makes changes to rules governing the reporting of crimes involving the online sexual exploitation of children by requiring electronic communication service providers to submit reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) when they become aware of violations. It also extends the time providers must preserve the contents of reports from 90 days to one year, increases statutory penalties for knowing and willfully failing to report CSAM, and expands reporting duties to include child sex trafficking and coercion and enticement of minors. The REPORT Act passed the full Senate on Dec. 14, 2023, but presently there is no companion in the House.
In advance of the hearing, Tech Policy Press collected information on each platform that will appear, including key background on the companies and their respective policies on child online safety, including what steps they take to counter child exploitation and sexual abuse material, reporting options, known detection technologies in use, and transparency efforts. Our review also includes a section on recent controversies related to child safety that have embroiled each of the social media platforms headed to Capitol Hill.