I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10329 

To provide that it is unlawful to knowingly distribute private intimate visual 

depictions with reckless disregard for the individual’s lack of consent 

to the distribution, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2024 

Mr. VAN DREW (for himself, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. MACE, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide that it is unlawful to knowingly distribute private 

intimate visual depictions with reckless disregard for the 

individual’s lack of consent to the distribution, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harmful 

5 Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution Act of 

6 2025’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO INTIMATE VIS2 UAL DEPICTIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 88 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 1802. Certain activities relating to intimate visual 

7 depictions 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

10 ‘communications service’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a service provided by a person that is 

12 a common carrier, as that term is defined in 

13 section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 

14 (47 U.S.C. 153), insofar as the person is acting 

15 as a common carrier; 

16 ‘‘(B) an electronic communication service, 

17 as that term is defined in section 2510; 

18 ‘‘(C) an information service, as that term 

19 is defined in section 3 of the Communications 

20 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153); and 

21 ‘‘(D) an interactive computer service, as 

22 that term is defined in section 230(f) of the 

23 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

24 230(f)). 

25 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER.—The 

26 term ‘information content provider’ has the meaning 


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1 given that term in section 230(f) of the Communica2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)). 

3 ‘‘(3) INTIMATE VISUAL DEPICTION.—The term 

4 ‘intimate visual depiction’ means any visual depic5 tion (as that term is defined in section 2256(5)) of 

6 an individual— 

7 ‘‘(A) who has attained 18 years of age at 

8 the time the intimate visual depiction is cre9 ated; 

10 ‘‘(B) who is recognizable to a third party 

11 from the intimate image itself or information or 

12 text displayed in connection with the intimate 

13 image itself or information or text displayed in 

14 connection with the intimate image; and 

15 ‘‘(C)(i) who is depicted engaging in sexu16 ally explicit conduct; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) whose genitals, anus, pubic area, or 

18 female nipple are unclothed and visible. 

19 ‘‘(4) MINOR.—The term ‘minor’ has the mean20 ing given that term in section 2256. 

21 ‘‘(5) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT.—The term 

22 ‘sexually explicit conduct’ has the meaning given 

23 that term in section 2256(2)(A). 

24 ‘‘(6) VISUAL DEPICTION OF A NUDE MINOR.— 

25 The term ‘visual depiction of a nude minor’ means 


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1 any visual depiction (as that term is defined in sec2 tion 2256(5)) of an individual who is recognizable by 

3 an individual other than the depicted individual from 

4 the intimate image itself or information or text dis5 played in connection with the intimate image who 

6 was under 18 years of age at the time the visual de7 piction was created in which the actual anus, geni8 tals, or pubic area, or post-pubescent female nipple, 

9 of the minor are unclothed, visible, and displayed in 

10 a manner that does not constitute sexually explicit 

11 conduct. 

12 ‘‘(b) OFFENSES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub14 section (d), it shall be unlawful to knowingly mail, 

15 or to knowingly distribute using any means or facil16 ity of interstate or foreign commerce or affecting 

17 interstate or foreign commerce, an intimate visual 

18 depiction of an individual— 

19 ‘‘(A) that was obtained or created under 

20 circumstances in which the actor knew or rea21 sonably should have known the individual de22 picted had a reasonable expectation of privacy; 

23 ‘‘(B) where what is depicted was not volun24 tarily exposed by the individual in a public or 

25 commercial setting; 


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1 ‘‘(C) where what is depicted is not a mat2 ter of public concern; and 

3 ‘‘(D) if the distribution— 

4 ‘‘(i) is intended to cause harm; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) causes harm, including psycho6 logical, financial, or reputational harm, to 

7 the individual depicted. 

8 For purposes of this paragraph, the fact that the 

9 subject of the depiction consented to the creation of 

10 the depiction shall not establish that that person 

11 consented to its distribution. 

12 ‘‘(2) INVOLVING MINORS.—Except as provided 

13 in subsection (d), it shall be unlawful to knowingly 

14 mail, or to knowingly distribute using any means or 

15 facility of interstate or foreign commerce or affect16 ing interstate or foreign commerce, a visual depic17 tion of a nude minor with intent to abuse, humiliate, 

18 harass, or degrade the minor, or to arouse or gratify 

19 the sexual desire of any person. 

20 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) VISUAL DEPICTION OF A NUDE

23 MINOR.—Any person who violates subsection 

24 (b)(2) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

25 not more than 3 years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INTIMATE VISUAL DEPICTION.—Any 

2 person who violates subsection (b)(1) shall be 

3 fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 

4 than 2 years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(2) FORFEITURE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The court, in impos7 ing a sentence on any person convicted of a vio8 lation involving intimate visual depictions or 

9 visual depictions of a nude minor under this 

10 section, or convicted of a conspiracy of a viola11 tion involving intimate visual depictions or vis12 ual depictions of a nude minor under this sec13 tion, shall order, in addition to any other sen14 tence imposed and irrespective of any provision 

15 of State law, that such person forfeit to the 

16 United States— 

17 ‘‘(i) any material distributed in viola18 tion of this section; 

19 ‘‘(ii) such person’s interest in prop20 erty, real or personal, constituting or de21 rived from any gross proceeds of such vio22 lation, or any property traceable to such 

23 property, obtained or retained directly or 

24 indirectly as a result of such violation; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any personal property of the 

2 person used, or intended to be used, in any 

3 manner or part, to commit or to facilitate 

4 the commission of such violation. 

5 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—Section 413 of the 

6 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853), 

7 with the exception of subsections (a) and (d), 

8 applies to the criminal forfeiture of property 

9 pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(3) RESTITUTION.—Restitution shall be avail11 able as provided in section 2264 of this title. 

12 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT, LAWFUL REPORTING, 

14 AND OTHER LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.—This section— 

15 ‘‘(A) does not prohibit any lawfully author16 ized investigative, protective, or intelligence ac17 tivity of a law enforcement agency of the 

18 United States, a State, or a political subdivision 

19 of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the 

20 United States; and 

21 ‘‘(B) shall not apply to distributions that 

22 are made reasonably and in good faith— 

23 ‘‘(i) to report unlawful or unsolicited 

24 activity or in pursuance of a legal or pro25 fessional or other lawful obligation; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to seek support or help with re2 spect to the receipt of an unsolicited inti3 mate visual depiction; 

4 ‘‘(iii) relating to an individual who 

5 possesses or distributes a visual depiction 

6 of himself or herself engaged in nudity or 

7 sexually explicit conduct; 

8 ‘‘(iv) to assist the depicted individual; 

9 ‘‘(v) for legitimate medical, scientific, 

10 or educational purposes; or 

11 ‘‘(vi) as part of a document produc12 tion or filing associated with a legal pro13 ceeding. 

14 ‘‘(2) SERVICE PROVIDERS.—This section shall 

15 not apply to any provider of a communications serv16 ice with regard to content provided by another infor17 mation content provider unless the provider of the 

18 communications service intentionally solicits, or 

19 knowingly and predominantly distributes, such con20 tent. 

21 ‘‘(e) THREATS.—Any person who intentionally 

22 threatens to commit an offense under subsection (b) for 

23 the purpose of intimidation, coercion, extortion, or to cre24 ate mental distress shall be punished as provided in sub25 section (c). 


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1 ‘‘(f) EXTRATERRITORIALITY.—There is 

2 extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under 

3 this section if the defendant or the depicted individual is 

4 a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec6 tion shall be construed to limit the application of any other 

7 relevant law, including section 2252 of this title.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 for chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

10 by inserting after the item relating to section 1801 the 

11 following: 

‘‘1802. Certain activities relating to intimate visual depictions.’’. 

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2264(a) of 

13 title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 

14 or under section 1802 of this title’’ before the period. 

Æ 


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