On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in the first Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing of the 119th Congress, the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism held a hearing entitled “Ending the Scourge: The Need for the STOP CSAM Act.” Subcommittee Chair Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who convened the hearing, and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced in February that they intended to reintroduce the Strengthening Transparency and Obligations to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act or “STOP CSAM Act”, a comprehensive bill that seeks to combat the online sexual exploitation of children. First introduced in 2023, the Act did not receive a vote on the Senate floor last Congress, despite being unanimously advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The STOP CSAM Act, as written in 2023, contains multiple provisions that would impose new requirements on online platforms. The Act would:
- Remove Section 230 immunity for civil claims against online platforms for CSAM-related harms;
- Create a private right of action for victims to file civil lawsuits against online platforms that fail to timely remove CSAM material;
- Create a Child Online Protection Board at the Federal Trade Commission that would be responsible for enforcing the removal of CSAM material and related images and authorized to fine platforms that fail to comply;
- Remove technology companies’ discretion as to whether to report planned or imminent child sexual exploitation offenses of which the provider has actual knowledge;
- Require that online platforms include certain additional information in NCMEC CyberTipline reports; and
- Mandate that certain online platforms issue annual transparency reports related to child protection efforts.
Continue Reading Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the STOP CSAM Act