Today, Representatives Barry Moore and Sylvia Garcia introduced the STOP CSAM Act, aimed at expanding protections for child victims and witnesses in federal court proceedings. This legislation seeks to facilitate restitution for victims of child exploitation, human trafficking, sexual assault, and violent crimes.
The bill empowers victims by simplifying the process for requesting tech companies to remove child sexual abuse material from their platforms. It also introduces an administrative penalty for non-compliance with removal requests. Additionally, it mandates annual reports from big tech companies on their efforts to protect children.
Rep. Barry Moore stated, “The rise of new technologies has created dangerous loopholes that predators exploit to traffic in child sexual abuse material. In the last 15 years, the number of American victims has skyrocketed by over 400 percent. I’m proud to partner with Rep. Garcia on this bipartisan effort to ensure Big Tech is no longer allowed to look the other way. Our children deserve protection, and survivors deserve justice.”
Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia added her perspective: “Tech executives keep showing up to Congress, saying the right things while doing nothing as children are harmed and targeted on their platforms. If these companies are comfortable making billions as they ignore rampant child abuse, we must hold them accountable for their failure. As technology evolves, the law must evolve too. The bipartisan and bicameral STOP CSAM Act would finally give families a path to justice and make sure that children are protected.”
