WASHINGTON – In conjunction with today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child safety online, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced that they will reintroduce the STOP CSAM Act. The bipartisan legislation would crack down on the proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online by allowing victims to sue companies that host this material, among other things. The Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced this legislation last Congress.
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“Big Tech has woefully failed to police itself, and the American people are demanding that Congress intervene. We made significant headway last year to address Big Tech’s failure to protect our kids online, including five unanimous bipartisan votes on bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It’s time to build on that progress. I’m glad to partner with Senator Hawley to soon reintroduce our bill supporting victims of child sexual abuse material and increasing accountability for tech companies, and I encourage all my colleagues to join us,” said Durbin.
“Congress has already waited too long to protect kids online and while we’ve stalled, social media companies have continued to be hubs for child sexual abuse material. We can’t waste any more time,” said Hawley. “Let’s give parents and victims the ability to hold these companies accountable and sue them. Anything less, and these problems won’t end.”
Durbin has used his role on the Senate Judiciary Committee to prioritize child safety online through hearings, legislation, and oversight efforts. On January 31, 2024, while Durbin was serving as Chair, the Committee held a hearing featuring testimony from the CEOs of social media companies Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter). This hearing highlighted the ongoing risk to children and the immediate need for Congress to act on the bipartisan bills reported by the Committee.
In addition, Durbin’s bipartisan Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 (DEFIANCE Act) passed the Senate in July 2024. The legislation would hold accountable those responsible for the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexually-explicit “deepfake” images and videos. The volume of “deepfake” content available online is increasing exponentially as the technology used to create it has become more accessible to the public. The overwhelming majority of this material is sexually explicit and is produced without the consent of the person depicted.
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