I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7949 

To combat the sexual exploitation of children by supporting victims and 

promoting accountability and transparency by the tech industry. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2024 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself and Mr. MOORE of Alabama) introduced the 

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

in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To combat the sexual exploitation of children by supporting 

victims and promoting accountability and transparency 

by the tech industry. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Trans5 parency and Obligations to Protect Children Suffering 

6 from Abuse and Mistreatment Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘STOP 

7 CSAM Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTING CHILD VICTIMS AND WITNESSES IN 

2 FEDERAL COURT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3509 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘or 

7 exploitation’’ and inserting ‘‘exploitation, or 

8 kidnapping, including international parental 

9 kidnapping’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘physical 

11 or mental injury’’ and inserting ‘‘physical in12 jury, psychological abuse’’; 

13 (C) by striking paragraph (5) and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) the term ‘psychological abuse’ includes— 

16 ‘‘(A) a pattern of acts, threats of acts, or 

17 coercive tactics intended to degrade, humiliate, 

18 intimidate, or terrorize a child; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the infliction of trauma on a child 

20 through— 

21 ‘‘(i) isolation; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the withholding of food or other 

23 necessities in order to control behavior; 

24 ‘‘(iii) physical restraint; or 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the confinement of the child 

2 without the child’s consent and in degrad3 ing conditions;’’; 

4 (D) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘child 

5 prostitution’’ and inserting ‘‘child sex traf6 ficking’’; 

7 (E) by striking paragraph (7) and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(7) the term ‘multidisciplinary child abuse 

10 team’ means a professional unit of individuals work11 ing together to investigate child abuse and provide 

12 assistance and support to a victim of child abuse, 

13 composed of representatives from— 

14 ‘‘(A) health, social service, and legal serv15 ice agencies that represent the child; 

16 ‘‘(B) law enforcement agencies and pros17 ecutorial offices; and 

18 ‘‘(C) children’s advocacy centers;’’; 

19 (F) in paragraph (9)(D)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘genitals’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘anus, genitals,’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘or animal’’; 

23 (G) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 at the end; 

25 (H) in paragraph (12)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘the term ‘child abuse’ 

2 does not’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms ‘phys3 ical injury’ and ‘psychological abuse’ do 

4 not’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking the period and insert6 ing a semicolon; and 

7 (I) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(13) the term ‘covered person’ means a person 

9 of any age who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is or is alleged to be— 

11 ‘‘(i) a victim of a crime of physical 

12 abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, or kid13 napping, including international parental 

14 kidnapping; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) a witness to a crime committed 

16 against another person; and 

17 ‘‘(B) was under the age of 18 when the 

18 crime described in subparagraph (A) was com19 mitted; 

20 ‘‘(14) the term ‘protected information’, with re21 spect to a covered person, includes— 

22 ‘‘(A) personally identifiable information of 

23 the covered person, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) the name of the covered person; 

25 ‘‘(ii) an address; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a phone number; 

2 ‘‘(iv) a user name or identifying infor3 mation for an online, social media, or 

4 email account; and 

5 ‘‘(v) any information that can be used 

6 to distinguish or trace the identity of the 

7 covered person, either alone or when com8 bined with other information that is linked 

9 or linkable to the covered person; 

10 ‘‘(B) medical, dental, behavioral, psy11 chiatric, or psychological information of the cov12 ered person; 

13 ‘‘(C) educational or juvenile justice records 

14 of the covered person; and 

15 ‘‘(D) any other information concerning the 

16 covered person that is deemed ‘protected infor17 mation’ by order of the court under subsection 

18 (d)(5); and 

19 ‘‘(15) the term ‘child pornography’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 2256(8).’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking 

23 ‘‘minor’’ and inserting ‘‘child’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in the heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘VIDEOTAPED’’ and inserting ‘‘RE3 CORDED’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘that the deposition be recorded and pre6 served on videotape’’ and inserting ‘‘that a 

7 video recording of the deposition be made 

8 and preserved’’; 

9 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

10 (I) in clause (ii), by striking 

11 ‘‘that the child’s deposition be taken 

12 and preserved by videotape’’ and in13 serting ‘‘that a video recording of the 

14 child’s deposition be made and pre15 served’’; 

16 (II) in clause (iii)— 

17 (aa) in the matter preceding 

18 subclause (I), by striking ‘‘video19 tape’’ and inserting ‘‘recorded’’; 

20 and 

21 (bb) in subclause (IV), by 

22 striking ‘‘videotape’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘recording’’; and 

24 (III) in clause (v)— 


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1 (aa) in the heading, by 

2 striking ‘‘VIDEOTAPE’’ and in3 serting ‘‘VIDEO RECORDING’’; 

4 (bb) in the first sentence, by 

5 striking ‘‘made and preserved on 

6 video tape’’ and inserting ‘‘re7 corded and preserved’’; and 

8 (cc) in the second sentence, 

9 by striking ‘‘videotape’’ and in10 serting ‘‘video recording’’; 

11 (iv) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

12 ‘‘child’s videotaped’’ and inserting ‘‘video 

13 recording of the child’s’’; 

14 (v) in subparagraph (D)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘videotaping’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘deposition’’; and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘videotaped’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘recorded’’; 

19 (vi) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

20 ‘‘videotaped’’ and inserting ‘‘recorded’’; 

21 and 

22 (vii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

23 ‘‘videotape’’ each place the term appears 

24 and inserting ‘‘video recording’’; 

25 (3) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

2 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the name 

3 of or any other information concerning a 

4 child’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered person’s 

5 protected information’’; and 

6 (ii) in clause (ii)— 

7 (I) by striking ‘‘documents de8 scribed in clause (i) or the informa9 tion in them that concerns a child’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘a covered person’s pro11 tected information’’; and 

12 (II) by striking ‘‘, have reason to 

13 know such information’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘(including witnesses or potential wit15 nesses), have reason to know each 

16 item of protected information to be 

17 disclosed’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘the name of or any 

20 other information concerning a child’’ each 

21 place the term appears and inserting ‘‘a 

22 covered person’s protected information’’; 

23 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

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1 tively, and adjusting the margins accord2 ingly; 

3 (iii) by striking ‘‘All papers’’ and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All papers’’; and 

6 (iv) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT OF VIOLATIONS.— 

9 The court may address a violation of subpara10 graph (A) in the same manner as disobedience 

11 or resistance to a lawful court order under sec12 tion 401(3).’’; 

13 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘a child from pub16 lic disclosure of the name of or any 

17 other information concerning the 

18 child’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered per19 son’s protected information from pub20 lic disclosure’’; and 

21 (II) by striking ‘‘, if the court de22 termines that there is a significant 

23 possibility that such disclosure would 

24 be detrimental to the child’’; 

25 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (I) in clause (i)— 

2 (aa) by striking ‘‘a child wit3 ness, and the testimony of any 

4 other witness’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘any witness’’; and 

6 (bb) by striking ‘‘the name 

7 of or any other information con8 cerning a child’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

9 covered person’s protected infor10 mation’’; and 

11 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

12 ‘‘child’’ and inserting ‘‘covered per13 son’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(C)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, there 

17 shall be a presumption that public disclosure of a 

18 covered person’s protected information would be det19 rimental to the covered person. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The court shall deny a motion for a pro21 tective order under subparagraph (A) only if the 

22 court finds that the party opposing the motion has 

23 rebutted the presumption under clause (i) of this 

24 subparagraph.’’; 

25 (D) in paragraph (4)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘This subsection’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE TO CERTAIN PARTIES.— 

4 This subsection’’; 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des6 ignated— 

7 (I) by striking ‘‘the name of or 

8 other information concerning a child’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘a covered person’s pro10 tected information’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘or an adult at12 tendant, or to’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

13 adult attendant, a law enforcement 

14 agency for any intelligence or inves15 tigative purpose, or’’; and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(B) REQUEST FOR PUBLIC DISCLO19 SURE.—If any party requests public disclosure 

20 of a covered person’s protected information to 

21 further a public interest, the court shall deny 

22 the request unless the court finds that— 

23 ‘‘(i) the party seeking disclosure has 

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1 lic interest in publicly disclosing the cov2 ered person’s protected information; 

3 ‘‘(ii) there is a substantial probability 

4 that the public interest would be harmed if 

5 the covered person’s protected information 

6 is not disclosed; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the substantial probability of 

8 harm to the public interest outweighs the 

9 harm to the covered person from public 

10 disclosure of the covered person’s protected 

11 information; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) there is no alternative to public 

13 disclosure of the covered person’s protected 

14 information that would adequately protect 

15 the public interest.’’; and 

16 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) OTHER PROTECTED INFORMATION.—The 

18 court may order that information shall be considered 

19 to be ‘protected information’ for purposes of this 

20 subsection if the court finds that the information is 

21 sufficiently personal, sensitive, or identifying that it 

22 should be subject to the protections and presump23 tions under this subsection.’’; 

24 (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) PROBATION OFFICER.—In preparing the 

3 presentence report pursuant to rule 32(c) of the 

4 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the probation 

5 officer shall request information from the multidisci6 plinary child abuse team, if applicable, or other ap7 propriate sources to determine the impact of the of8 fense on a child victim and any other children who 

9 may have been affected by the offense. 

10 ‘‘(2) GUARDIAN AD LITEM.—A guardian ad 

11 litem appointed under subsection (h) shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) make every effort to obtain and re13 port information that accurately expresses the 

14 views of a child victim, and the views of family 

15 members as appropriate, concerning the impact 

16 of the offense; and 

17 ‘‘(B) use forms that permit a child victim 

18 to express the child’s views concerning the per19 sonal consequences of the offense, at a level and 

20 in a form of communication commensurate with 

21 the child’s age and ability.’’; 

22 (5) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

2 be appropriated to the United States courts to 

3 carry out this subsection $25,000,000 for each 

4 fiscal year. 

5 ‘‘(B) SUPERVISION OF PAYMENTS.—Pay6 ments from appropriations authorized under 

7 subparagraph (A) shall be made under the su8 pervision of the Director of the Administrative 

9 Office of the United States Courts.’’; 

10 (6) in subsection (i)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘A child testifying at or at12 tending a judicial proceeding’’ and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A child testifying at a judi15 cial proceeding, including in a manner described in 

16 subsection (b),’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated— 

18 (i) in the third sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘proceeding’’ and inserting ‘‘testimony’’; 

20 and 

21 (ii) by striking the fifth sentence; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) RECORDING.—If the adult attendant is in 

24 close physical proximity to or in contact with the 

25 child while the child testifies— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at a judicial proceeding, a video re2 cording of the adult attendant shall be made 

3 and shall become part of the court record; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in a manner described in subsection 

5 (b), the adult attendant shall be visible on the 

6 closed-circuit television or in the recorded depo7 sition. 

8 ‘‘(3) COVERED PERSONS ATTENDING PRO9 CEEDING.—A covered person shall have the right to 

10 be accompanied by an adult attendant when attend11 ing any judicial proceeding.’’; 

12 (7) in subsection (j)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘child’’ each place the term 

14 appears and inserting ‘‘covered person’’; and 

15 (B) in the fourth sentence— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘and the potential’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘, the potential’’; 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘child’s’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘covered person’s’’; and 

20 (iii) by inserting before the period at 

21 the end the following: ‘‘, and the necessity 

22 of the continuance to protect the defend23 ant’s rights’’; 


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1 (8) in subsection (k), by striking ‘‘child’’ each 

2 place the term appears and inserting ‘‘covered per3 son’’; 

4 (9) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘child’’ each 

5 place the term appears and inserting ‘‘covered per6 son’’; and 

7 (10) in subsection (m)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(as defined by section 

9 2256 of this title)’’ each place it appears; 

10 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and 

11 any civil action brought under section 2255 or 

12 2255A’’ after ‘‘any criminal proceeding’’; 

13 (C) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(C)(i) Notwithstanding Rule 26 of the Federal 

16 Rules of Civil Procedure, a court shall deny, in any 

17 civil action brought under section 2255 or 2255A, 

18 any request by any party to copy, photograph, dupli19 cate, or otherwise reproduce any property or mate20 rial that constitutes child pornography. 

21 ‘‘(ii) In a civil action brought under section 

22 2255 or 2255A, for purposes of paragraph (1), the 

23 court may— 

24 ‘‘(I) order the plaintiff or defendant to 

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1 plicable, any equipment necessary to maintain 

2 care, custody, and control of such property or 

3 material; and 

4 ‘‘(II) take reasonable measures, and may 

5 order the Government (if such property or ma6 terial is in the care, custody, and control of the 

7 Government) to take reasonable measures, to 

8 provide each party to the action, the attorney of 

9 each party, and any individual a party may seek 

10 to qualify as an expert, with ample opportunity 

11 to inspect, view, and examine such property or 

12 material at the court or a Government facility, 

13 as applicable.’’; and 

14 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘and during the 1- 

16 year period following the date on which the 

17 criminal proceeding becomes final or is ter18 minated’’ after ‘‘any criminal proceeding’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘, as defined under 

21 section 2256(8),’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply to conduct that occurs before, on, 

24 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. FACILITATING PAYMENT OF RESTITUTION; TECH2 NICAL AMENDMENTS TO RESTITUTION STAT3 UTES. 

4 Title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in section 1593(c)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘chapter, including, in’’ 

8 and inserting the following: ‘‘chapter. 

9 ‘‘(2) In’’; and 

10 (C) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by 

11 inserting ‘‘may assume the rights of the victim 

12 under this section’’ after ‘‘suitable by the 

13 court’’; 

14 (2) in section 2248(c)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘chapter, including, in’’ 

19 and inserting the following: ‘‘chapter. 

20 ‘‘(2) ASSUMPTION OF CRIME VICTIM’S

21 RIGHTS.—In’’; and 

22 (C) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by 

23 inserting ‘‘may assume the rights of the victim 

24 under this section’’ after ‘‘suitable by the 

25 court’’; 

26 (3) in section 2259— 


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1 (A) by striking subsection (a) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 3663 or 

4 3663A, and in addition to any other civil or criminal pen5 alty authorized by law, the court shall order restitution 

6 for any offense under— 

7 ‘‘(1) section 1466A, to the extent the conduct 

8 involves a visual depiction of an identifiable minor; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(2) this chapter.’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (b)— 

12 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘DI13 RECTIONS.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), the’’ and inserting ‘‘RESTITU15 TION FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PRODUC16 TION.—If the defendant was convicted of 

17 child pornography production, the’’; and 

18 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 

19 ‘‘$3,000.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘— 

20 ‘‘(i) $3,000; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) 10 percent of the full amount of 

22 the victim’s losses, if the full amount of 

23 the victim’s losses is less than $3,000.’’; 

24 and 

25 (C) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) by striking paragraph (1) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PRODUCTION.—For 

4 purposes of this section and section 2259A, the term 

5 ‘child pornography production’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a violation of, attempted violation of, 

7 or conspiracy to violate section 1466A(a) to the 

8 extent the conduct involves production of a vis9 ual depiction of an identifiable minor; 

10 ‘‘(B) a violation of, attempted violation of, 

11 or conspiracy to violate section 1466A(a) involv12 ing possession with intent to distribute, or sec13 tion 1466A(b), to the extent the conduct in14 volves a visual depiction of an identifiable 

15 minor— 

16 ‘‘(i) produced by the defendant; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) that the defendant attempted or 

18 conspired to produce; 

19 ‘‘(C) a violation of subsection (a), (b), or 

20 (c) of section 2251, or an attempt or conspiracy 

21 to violate any of those subsections under sub22 section (e) of that section; 

23 ‘‘(D) a violation of section 2251A; 

24 ‘‘(E) a violation of section 2252(a)(4) or 

25 2252A(a)(5), or an attempt or conspiracy to 


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1 violate either of those sections under section 

2 2252(b)(2) or 2252A(b)(2), to the extent such 

3 conduct involves child pornography— 

4 ‘‘(i) produced by the defendant; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) that the defendant attempted or 

6 conspired to produce; 

7 ‘‘(F) a violation of subsection (a)(7) of sec8 tion 2252A, or an attempt or conspiracy to vio9 late that subsection under subsection (b)(3) of 

10 that section, to the extent the conduct involves 

11 production with intent to distribute; 

12 ‘‘(G) a violation of section 2252A(g) if the 

13 series of felony violations involves not fewer 

14 than 1 violation— 

15 ‘‘(i) described in subparagraph (A), 

16 (B), (E), or (F) of this paragraph; 

17 ‘‘(ii) of section 1591; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) of section 1201, chapter 109A, 

19 or chapter 117, if the victim is a minor; 

20 ‘‘(H) a violation of subsection (a) of sec21 tion 2260, or an attempt or conspiracy to vio22 late that subsection under subsection (c)(1) of 

23 that section; 

24 ‘‘(I) a violation of section 2260B(a)(2) for 

25 promoting or facilitating an offense— 


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1 ‘‘(i) described in subparagraph (A), 

2 (B), (D), or (E) of this paragraph; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) under section 2422(b); and 

4 ‘‘(J) a violation of chapter 109A or chap5 ter 117, if the offense involves the production 

6 or attempted production of, or conspiracy to 

7 produce, child pornography.’’; 

8 (ii) by striking paragraph (3) and in9 serting the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) TRAFFICKING IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.— 

11 For purposes of this section and section 2259A, the 

12 term ‘trafficking in child pornography’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a violation of, attempted violation of, 

14 or conspiracy to violate section 1466A(a) to the 

15 extent the conduct involves distribution or re16 ceipt of a visual depiction of an identifiable 

17 minor; 

18 ‘‘(B) a violation of, attempted violation of, 

19 or conspiracy to violate section 1466A(a) involv20 ing possession with intent to distribute, or sec21 tion 1466A(b), to the extent the conduct in22 volves a visual depiction of an identifiable 

23 minor— 

24 ‘‘(i) not produced by the defendant; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that the defendant did not at2 tempt or conspire to produce; 

3 ‘‘(C) a violation of subsection (d) of section 

4 2251 or an attempt or conspiracy to violate 

5 that subsection under subsection (e) of that sec6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(D) a violation of paragraph (1), (2), or 

8 (3) of subsection (a) of section 2252, or an at9 tempt or conspiracy to violate any of those 

10 paragraphs under subsection (b)(1) of that sec11 tion; 

12 ‘‘(E) a violation of section 2252(a)(4) or 

13 2252A(a)(5), or an attempt or conspiracy to 

14 violate either of those sections under section 

15 2252(b)(2) or 2252A(b)(2), to the extent such 

16 conduct involves child pornography— 

17 ‘‘(i) not produced by the defendant; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) that the defendant did not at19 tempt or conspire to produce; 

20 ‘‘(F) a violation of paragraph (1), (2), (3), 

21 (4), or (6) of subsection (a) of section 2252A, 

22 or an attempt or conspiracy to violate any of 

23 those paragraphs under subsection (b)(1) of 

24 that section; 


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1 ‘‘(G) a violation of subsection (a)(7) of sec2 tion 2252A, or an attempt or conspiracy to vio3 late that subsection under subsection (b)(3) of 

4 that section, to the extent the conduct involves 

5 distribution; 

6 ‘‘(H) a violation of section 2252A(g) if the 

7 series of felony violations exclusively involves 

8 violations described in this paragraph (except 

9 subparagraphs (A) and (B)); 

10 ‘‘(I) a violation of subsection (b) of section 

11 2260, or an attempt or conspiracy to violate 

12 that subsection under subsection (c)(2) of that 

13 section; and 

14 ‘‘(J) a violation of subsection (a)(1) of sec15 tion 2260B, or a violation of subsection (a)(2) 

16 of that section for promoting or facilitating an 

17 offense described in this paragraph (except sub18 paragraphs (A) and (B)).’’; and 

19 (iii) in paragraph (4), in the first sen20 tence, by inserting ‘‘or an identifiable 

21 minor harmed as a result of the commis22 sion of a crime under section 1466A’’ after 

23 ‘‘under this chapter’’; 

24 (4) in section 2259A(a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘under 

2 section 2252(a)(4) or 2252A(a)(5)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘described in subparagraph (B) or (E) of 

4 section 2259(c)(3)’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘any 

6 other offense for trafficking in child pornog7 raphy’’ and inserting ‘‘any offense for traf8 ficking in child pornography other than an of9 fense described in subparagraph (B) or (E) of 

10 section 2259(c)(3)’’; 

11 (5) in section 2429— 

12 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking 

13 ‘‘2259(b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘2259(c)(2)’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (d)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘chapter, including, 

17 in’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘chapter. 

18 ‘‘(2) In’’; and 

19 (iii) in paragraph (2), as so des20 ignated, by inserting ‘‘may assume the 

21 rights of the victim under this section’’ 

22 after ‘‘suitable by the court’’; and 

23 (6) in section 3664, by adding at the end the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(q) TRUSTEE OR OTHER FIDUCIARY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

2 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEE OR

3 OTHER FIDUCIARY.—When the court issues an 

4 order of restitution under section 1593, 2248, 

5 2259, 2429, or 3663, or subparagraphs (A)(i) 

6 and (B) of section 3663A(c)(1), for a victim de7 scribed in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, 

8 the court, at its own discretion or upon motion 

9 by the Government, may appoint a trustee or 

10 other fiduciary to hold any amount paid for res11 titution in a trust or other official account for 

12 the benefit of the victim. 

13 ‘‘(B) COVERED VICTIMS.—A victim re14 ferred to in subparagraph (A) is a victim who 

15 is— 

16 ‘‘(i) under the age of 18 at the time 

17 of the proceeding; 

18 ‘‘(ii) incompetent or incapacitated; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) subject to paragraph (3), a for20 eign citizen or stateless person residing 

21 outside the United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) ORDER.—When the court appoints a trust23 ee or other fiduciary under paragraph (1), the court 

24 shall issue an order specifying— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the duties of the trustee or other fi2 duciary, which shall require— 

3 ‘‘(i) the administration of the trust or 

4 maintaining an official account in the best 

5 interests of the victim; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) disbursing payments from the 

7 trust or account— 

8 ‘‘(I) to the victim; or 

9 ‘‘(II) to any individual or entity 

10 on behalf of the victim; 

11 ‘‘(B) that the trustee or other fiduciary— 

12 ‘‘(i) shall avoid any conflict of inter13 est; 

14 ‘‘(ii) may not profit from the adminis15 tration of the trust or maintaining an offi16 cial account for the benefit of the victim 

17 other than as specified in the order; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) may not delegate administration 

19 of the trust or maintaining the official ac20 count to any other person; 

21 ‘‘(C) if and when the trust or the duties of 

22 the other fiduciary will expire; and 

23 ‘‘(D) the fees payable to the trustee or 

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1 count for the benefit of the victim, and the 

2 schedule for payment of those fees. 

3 ‘‘(3) FACT-FINDING REGARDING FOREIGN CITI4 ZENS AND STATELESS PERSON.—In the case of a 

5 victim who is a foreign citizen or stateless person re6 siding outside the United States and is not under 

7 the age of 18 at the time of the proceeding or in8 competent or incapacitated, the court may appoint a 

9 trustee or other fiduciary under paragraph (1) only 

10 if the court finds it necessary to— 

11 ‘‘(A) protect the safety or security of the 

12 victim; or 

13 ‘‘(B) provide a reliable means for the vic14 tim to access or benefit from the restitution 

15 payments. 

16 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT OF FEES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The court may, with 

18 respect to the fees of the trustee or other fidu19 ciary— 

20 ‘‘(i) pay the fees in whole or in part; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(ii) order the defendant to pay the 

23 fees in whole or in part. 

24 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVI25 SIONS.—With respect to a court order under 


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1 subparagraph (A)(ii) requiring a defendant to 

2 pay fees— 

3 ‘‘(i) subsection (f)(3) shall apply to 

4 the court order in the same manner as 

5 that subsection applies to a restitution 

6 order; 

7 ‘‘(ii) subchapter C of chapter 227 

8 (other than section 3571) shall apply to 

9 the court order in the same manner as 

10 that subchapter applies to a sentence of a 

11 fine; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) subchapter B of chapter 229 

13 shall apply to the court order in the same 

14 manner as that subchapter applies to the 

15 implementation of a sentence of a fine. 

16 ‘‘(C) EFFECT ON OTHER PENALTIES.—Im17 position of payment under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

18 shall not relieve a defendant of, or entitle a de19 fendant to a reduction in the amount of, any 

20 special assessment, restitution, other fines, pen21 alties, or costs, or other payments required 

22 under the defendant’s sentence. 

23 ‘‘(D) SCHEDULE.—Notwithstanding any 

24 other provision of law, if the court orders the 

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1 graph (A)(ii), the court may provide a payment 

2 schedule that is concurrent with the payment of 

3 any other financial obligation described in sub4 paragraph (C). 

5 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

7 be appropriated to the United States courts to 

8 carry out this subsection $15,000,000 for each 

9 fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(B) SUPERVISION OF PAYMENTS.—Pay11 ments from appropriations authorized under 

12 subparagraph (A) shall be made under the su13 pervision of the Director of the Administrative 

14 Office of the United States Courts.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. CYBERTIPLINE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCOUNT16 ABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BY THE TECH 

17 INDUSTRY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in section 2258A— 

21 (A) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (c) 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(a) DUTY TO REPORT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DUTY.—In order to reduce the prolifera25 tion of online child exploitation and to prevent the 


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1 online sexual exploitation of children, as soon as rea2 sonably possible after obtaining actual knowledge of 

3 any facts or circumstances described in paragraph 

4 (2) or any apparent child pornography on the pro5 vider’s service, and in any event not later than 60 

6 days after obtaining such knowledge, a provider 

7 shall submit to the CyberTipline of NCMEC, or any 

8 successor to the CyberTipline operated by NCMEC, 

9 a report containing— 

10 ‘‘(A) the mailing address, telephone num11 ber, facsimile number, electronic mailing ad12 dress of, and individual point of contact for, 

13 such provider; and 

14 ‘‘(B) information described in subsection 

15 (b) concerning such facts or circumstances or 

16 apparent child pornography, including any 

17 available information to identify or locate any 

18 involved minor. 

19 ‘‘(2) FACTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES.—The facts or 

20 circumstances described in this paragraph are any 

21 facts or circumstances indicating an apparent, 

22 planned, or imminent violation of section 1591 (if 

23 the violation involves a minor), 2251, 2251A, 2252, 

24 2252A, 2252B, 2260, or 2422(b). 

25 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an effort to prevent the 

2 future sexual victimization of children, and to the 

3 extent the information is within the custody or con4 trol of a provider, each report provided under sub5 section (a)(1)— 

6 ‘‘(A) shall include, to the extent that it is 

7 applicable and reasonably available— 

8 ‘‘(i) the name, address, electronic mail 

9 address, user or account identification, 

10 Internet Protocol address, and uniform re11 source locator of any individual who is a 

12 subject of the report; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the terms of service in effect at 

14 the time of— 

15 ‘‘(I) the apparent violation; or 

16 ‘‘(II) the detection of apparent 

17 child pornography or a planned or im18 minent violation; 

19 ‘‘(iii) a copy of any apparent child 

20 pornography that is the subject of the re21 port that was identified in a publicly avail22 able location; 

23 ‘‘(iv) for each item of apparent child 

24 pornography included in the report under 


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1 clause (iii) or paragraph (2)(E), informa2 tion indicating whether— 

3 ‘‘(I) the apparent child pornog4 raphy was publicly available; or 

5 ‘‘(II) the provider, in its sole dis6 cretion, viewed the apparent child por7 nography, or any copy thereof, at any 

8 point concurrent with or prior to the 

9 submission of the report; and 

10 ‘‘(v) for each item of apparent child 

11 pornography that is the subject of the re12 port, an indication as to whether the ap13 parent child pornography— 

14 ‘‘(I) has previously been the sub15 ject of a report under subsection 

16 (a)(1); or 

17 ‘‘(II) is the subject of multiple 

18 contemporaneous reports due to rapid 

19 and widespread distribution; and 

20 ‘‘(B) may, at the sole discretion of the pro21 vider, include the information described in para22 graph (2) of this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(2) OTHER INFORMATION.—The information 

24 referred to in paragraph (1)(B) is the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION ABOUT ANY INVOLVED

2 INDIVIDUAL.—Any information relating to the 

3 identity or location of any individual who is a 

4 subject of the report, including payment infor5 mation (excluding personally identifiable infor6 mation) and self-reported identifying or locating 

7 information. 

8 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION ABOUT ANY INVOLVED

9 MINOR.—Information relating to the identity or 

10 location of any involved minor, which may in11 clude an address, electronic mail address, Inter12 net Protocol address, uniform resource locator, 

13 or any other information that may identify or 

14 locate any involved minor, including self-re15 ported identifying or locating information. 

16 ‘‘(C) HISTORICAL REFERENCE.—Informa17 tion relating to when and how a customer or 

18 subscriber of a provider uploaded, transmitted, 

19 or received content relating to the report or 

20 when and how content relating to the report 

21 was reported to, or discovered by the provider, 

22 including a date and time stamp and time zone. 

23 ‘‘(D) GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION INFORMA24 TION.—Information relating to the geographic 

25 location of the involved individual or website, 


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1 which may include the Internet Protocol ad2 dress or verified address, or, if not reasonably 

3 available, at least one form of geographic iden4 tifying information, including area code or zip 

5 code, provided by the customer or subscriber, or 

6 stored or obtained by the provider. 

7 ‘‘(E) APPARENT CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.— 

8 Any apparent child pornography not described 

9 in paragraph (1)(A)(iii), or other content re10 lated to the subject of the report. 

11 ‘‘(F) COMPLETE COMMUNICATION.—The 

12 complete communication containing any appar13 ent child pornography or other content, includ14 ing— 

15 ‘‘(i) any data or information regard16 ing the transmission of the communication; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) any visual depictions, data, or 

19 other digital files contained in, or attached 

20 to, the communication. 

21 ‘‘(G) TECHNICAL IDENTIFIER.—An indus22 try-standard hash value or other similar indus23 try-standard technical identifier for any re24 ported visual depiction as it existed on the pro25 vider’s service. 


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1 ‘‘(H) DESCRIPTION.—For any item of ap2 parent child pornography that is the subject of 

3 the report, an indication of whether— 

4 ‘‘(i) the depicted sexually explicit con5 duct involves— 

6 ‘‘(I) genital, oral, or anal sexual 

7 intercourse; 

8 ‘‘(II) bestiality; 

9 ‘‘(III) masturbation; 

10 ‘‘(IV) sadistic or masochistic 

11 abuse; or 

12 ‘‘(V) lascivious exhibition of the 

13 anus, genitals, or pubic area of any 

14 person; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the depicted minor is— 

16 ‘‘(I) an infant or toddler; 

17 ‘‘(II) prepubescent; 

18 ‘‘(III) pubescent; 

19 ‘‘(IV) post-pubescent; or 

20 ‘‘(V) of an indeterminate age or 

21 developmental stage. 

22 ‘‘(3) FORMATTING OF REPORTS.—When a pro23 vider includes any information described in para24 graph (1) or, at its sole discretion, any information 

25 described in paragraph (2) in a report to the 


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1 CyberTipline of NCMEC, or any successor to the 

2 CyberTipline operated by NCMEC, the provider 

3 shall use best efforts to ensure that the report con4 forms with the structure of the CyberTipline or the 

5 successor, as applicable. 

6 ‘‘(c) FORWARDING OF REPORT AND OTHER INFOR7 MATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its clearing9 house role as a private, nonprofit organization, and 

10 at the conclusion of its review in furtherance of its 

11 nonprofit mission, NCMEC shall make available 

12 each report submitted under subsection (a)(1) to one 

13 or more of the following law enforcement agencies: 

14 ‘‘(A) Any Federal law enforcement agency 

15 that is involved in the investigation of child sex16 ual exploitation, kidnapping, or enticement 

17 crimes. 

18 ‘‘(B) Any State or local law enforcement 

19 agency that is involved in the investigation of 

20 child sexual exploitation. 

21 ‘‘(C) A foreign law enforcement agency 

22 designated by the Attorney General under sub23 section (d)(3) or a foreign law enforcement 

24 agency that has an established relationship with 

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1 tion and Customs Enforcement, or 

2 INTERPOL, and is involved in the investiga3 tion of child sexual exploitation, kidnapping, or 

4 enticement crimes. 

5 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL IDENTIFIERS.—If a report 

6 submitted under subsection (a)(1) contains an in7 dustry-standard hash value or other similar indus8 try-standard technical identifier— 

9 ‘‘(A) NCMEC may compare that hash 

10 value or identifier with any database or reposi11 tory of visual depictions owned or operated by 

12 NCMEC; and 

13 ‘‘(B) if the comparison under subpara14 graph (A) results in a match, NCMEC may in15 clude the matching visual depiction from its 

16 database or repository when forwarding the re17 port to an agency described in subparagraph 

18 (A) or (B) of paragraph (1).’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (d)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub21 section (c)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

22 (c)(1)(A)’’; 

23 (ii) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik2 ing ‘‘subsection (c)(3)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(C)’’; and 

4 (II) in subparagraph (C), by 

5 striking ‘‘subsection (c)(3)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(C)’’; and 

7 (iii) in paragraph (5)(B)— 

8 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘for9 warded’’ and inserting ‘‘made avail10 able’’; and 

11 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

12 ‘‘forwarded’’ and inserting ‘‘made 

13 available’’; 

14 (C) by striking subsection (e) and inserting 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(e) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) CRIMINAL PENALTY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for a 

19 provider to knowingly— 

20 ‘‘(i) fail to submit a report under sub21 section (a)(1) within the time period re22 quired by that subsection; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) fail to preserve material as re24 quired under subsection (h). 

25 ‘‘(B) PENALTY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A provider that 

2 violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined— 

3 ‘‘(I) in the case of an initial vio4 lation, not more than— 

5 ‘‘(aa) $850,000 if the pro6 vider has not fewer than 

7 100,000,000 monthly active 

8 users; or 

9 ‘‘(bb) $600,000 if the pro10 vider has fewer than 100,000,000 

11 monthly active users; and 

12 ‘‘(II) in the case of any second or 

13 subsequent violation, not more than— 

14 ‘‘(aa) $1,000,000 if the pro15 vider has not fewer than 

16 100,000,000 monthly active 

17 users; or 

18 ‘‘(bb) $850,000 if the pro19 vider has fewer than 100,000,000 

20 monthly active users. 

21 ‘‘(ii) HARM TO INDIVIDUALS.—The 

22 maximum fine under clause (i) shall be 

23 doubled if an individual is harmed as a di24 rect and proximate result of the applicable 

25 violation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) VIOLATIONS RELATING TO

3 CYBERTIPLINE REPORTS AND MATERIAL PRES4 ERVATION.—A provider shall be liable to the 

5 United States Government for a civil penalty in 

6 an amount of not less than $50,000 and not 

7 more than $250,000 if the provider know8 ingly— 

9 ‘‘(i) fails to submit a report under 

10 subsection (a)(1) within the time period re11 quired by that subsection; 

12 ‘‘(ii) fails to preserve material as re13 quired under subsection (h); or 

14 ‘‘(iii) submits a report under sub15 section (a)(1) that— 

16 ‘‘(I) contains materially false or 

17 fraudulent information; or 

18 ‘‘(II) omits information described 

19 in subsection (b)(1)(A) that is reason20 ably available. 

21 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT VIOLATIONS.—A 

22 provider shall be liable to the United States 

23 Government for a civil penalty in an amount of 

24 not less than $100,000 and not more than 

25 $1,000,000 if the provider knowingly— 


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1 ‘‘(i) fails to submit an annual report 

2 as required under subsection (i); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) submits an annual report under 

4 subsection (i) that— 

5 ‘‘(I) contains a materially false, 

6 fraudulent, or misleading statement; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(II) omits information described 

9 in subsection (i)(1) that is reasonably 

10 available. 

11 ‘‘(C) HARM TO INDIVIDUALS.—The 

12 amount of a civil penalty under subparagraph 

13 (A) or (B) shall be tripled if an individual is 

14 harmed as a direct and proximate result of the 

15 applicable violation. 

16 ‘‘(D) COSTS OF CIVIL ACTIONS.—A pro17 vider that commits a violation described in sub18 paragraph (A) or (B) shall be liable to the 

19 United States Government for the costs of a 

20 civil action brought to recover a civil penalty 

21 under that subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT.—This paragraph 

23 shall be enforced in accordance with sections 

24 3731, 3732, and 3733 of title 31, except that 

25 a civil action to recover a civil penalty under 


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1 subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph may 

2 only be brought by the United States Govern3 ment. 

4 ‘‘(3) DEPOSIT OF FINES AND PENALTIES.— 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 

6 criminal fine or civil penalty collected under this 

7 subsection shall be deposited into the Child Pornog8 raphy Victims Reserve as provided in section 

9 2259B.’’; 

10 (D) in subsection (f), by striking para11 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for— 

13 ‘‘(A) facts or circumstances described in 

14 subsection (a)(2); 

15 ‘‘(B) information described in subsection 

16 (b)(2); or 

17 ‘‘(C) any apparent child pornography.’’; 

18 (E) in subsection (g)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

20 (I) in clause (iii), by inserting 

21 ‘‘or personnel at a children’s advocacy 

22 center’’ after ‘‘State)’’; and 

23 (II) in clause (iv), by striking 

24 ‘‘State or subdivision of a State’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘State, subdivision of a 


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1 State, or children’s advocacy center’’; 

2 and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (3), in the matter 

4 preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

6 (a)(1)’’; 

7 (F) in subsection (h), by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) RELATION TO REPORTING REQUIRE10 MENT.—Submission of a report as described in sub11 section (a)(1) does not satisfy the obligations under 

12 this subsection.’’; and 

13 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 31 of 

16 the second year beginning after the date of enact17 ment of the STOP CSAM Act of 2024, and of each 

18 year thereafter, a provider that had more than 

19 1,000,000 unique monthly visitors or users during 

20 each month of the preceding year and accrued rev21 enue of more than $50,000,000 during the preceding 

22 year shall submit to the Attorney General and the 

23 Chair of the Federal Trade Commission a report, 

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1 tent such information is applicable and reasonably 

2 available: 

3 ‘‘(A) CYBERTIPLINE DATA.— 

4 ‘‘(i) The total number of reports that 

5 the provider submitted under subsection 

6 (a)(1). 

7 ‘‘(ii) Which items of information de8 scribed in subsection (b)(2) are routinely 

9 included in the reports submitted by the 

10 provider under subsection (a)(1). 

11 ‘‘(B) REPORT AND REMOVE DATA.—With 

12 respect to section 6 of the STOP CSAM Act of 

13 2024— 

14 ‘‘(i) a description of the provider’s 

15 designated reporting system; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the number of complete notifica17 tions received; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the number of items of child 

19 sexual abuse material that were removed; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iv) the total amount of any fine or22 dered and paid. 

23 ‘‘(C) OTHER REPORTING TO THE PRO24 VIDER.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) The measures the provider has in 

2 place to receive other reports concerning 

3 child sexual exploitation and abuse using 

4 the provider’s product or on the provider’s 

5 service. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The average time for responding 

7 to reports described in clause (i). 

8 ‘‘(iii) The number of reports described 

9 in clause (i) that the provider received. 

10 ‘‘(iv) A summary description of the 

11 actions taken upon receipt of the reports 

12 described in clause (i). 

13 ‘‘(D) POLICIES.— 

14 ‘‘(i) A description of the policies of 

15 the provider with respect to the commis16 sion of child sexual exploitation and abuse 

17 using the provider’s product or on the pro18 vider’s service, including how child sexual 

19 exploitation and abuse is defined. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A description of possible con21 sequences for violations of the policies de22 scribed in clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(iii) The methods of informing users 

24 of the policies described in clause (i). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The process for adjudicating po2 tential violations of the policies described 

3 in clause (i). 

4 ‘‘(E) CULTURE OF SAFETY.— 

5 ‘‘(i) The measures and technologies 

6 that the provider deploys to protect chil7 dren from sexual exploitation and abuse 

8 using the provider’s product or service. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The measures and technologies 

10 that the provider deploys to prevent the 

11 use of the provider’s product or service by 

12 individuals seeking to commit child sexual 

13 exploitation and abuse. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Factors that interfere with the 

15 provider’s ability to detect or evaluate in16 stances of child sexual exploitation and 

17 abuse. 

18 ‘‘(iv) An assessment of the efficacy of 

19 the measures and technologies described in 

20 clauses (i) and (ii) and the impact of the 

21 factors described in clause (iii). 

22 ‘‘(F) SAFETY BY DESIGN.—The measures 

23 that the provider takes before launching a new 

24 product or service to assess— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the safety risks for children with 

2 respect to sexual exploitation and abuse; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) whether and how individuals 

5 could use the new product or service to 

6 commit child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

7 ‘‘(G) TRENDS AND PATTERNS.—Any infor8 mation concerning emerging trends and chang9 ing patterns with respect to the commission of 

10 online child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

11 ‘‘(2) AVOIDING DUPLICATION.—Notwith12 standing the requirement under the matter pre13 ceding paragraph (1) that information be submitted 

14 annually, in the case of any report submitted under 

15 that paragraph after the initial report, a provider 

16 shall submit information described in subparagraphs 

17 (D) through (G) of that paragraph not less fre18 quently than once every 3 years or when new infor19 mation is available, whichever is more frequent. 

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in paragraph (1) 

21 shall require the disclosure of trade secrets or other 

22 proprietary information. 

23 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), the Attorney General and the Chair 


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1 of the Federal Trade Commission shall publish 

2 the reports received under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(B) REDACTION.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 

5 General and Chair of the Federal Trade 

6 Commission shall redact from a report 

7 published under subparagraph (A) any in8 formation as necessary to avoid— 

9 ‘‘(I) undermining the efficacy of 

10 a safety measure described in the re11 port; or 

12 ‘‘(II) revealing how a product or 

13 service of a provider may be used to 

14 commit online child sexual exploi15 tation and abuse. 

16 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL REDACTION.— 

17 ‘‘(I) REQUEST.—In addition to 

18 information redacted under clause (i), 

19 a provider may request the redaction, 

20 from a report published under sub21 paragraph (A), of any information 

22 that is law enforcement sensitive or 

23 otherwise not suitable for public dis24 tribution. 


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1 ‘‘(II) AGENCY DISCRETION.—The 

2 Attorney General and Chair of the 

3 Federal Trade Commission— 

4 ‘‘(aa) shall consider a re5 quest made under subclause (I); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(bb) may, in their discre8 tion, redact from a report pub9 lished under subparagraph (A) 

10 any information that is law en11 forcement sensitive or otherwise 

12 not suitable for public distribu13 tion, whether or not requested.’’; 

14 (2) in section 2258B— 

15 (A) by striking subsection (a) and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) LIMITED LIABILITY.—Except as provided 

19 in subsection (b), a civil claim or criminal charge de20 scribed in paragraph (2) may not be brought in any 

21 Federal or State court. 

22 ‘‘(2) COVERED CLAIMS AND CHARGES.—A civil 

23 claim or criminal charge referred to in paragraph 

24 (1) is a civil claim or criminal charge against a pro25 vider or domain name registrar, including any direcVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7949.IH H7949

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1 tor, officer, employee, or agent of such provider or 

2 domain name registrar, that is directly attributable 

3 to— 

4 ‘‘(A) the performance of the reporting or 

5 preservation responsibilities of such provider or 

6 domain name registrar under this section, sec7 tion 2258A, or section 2258C; 

8 ‘‘(B) transmitting, distributing, or mailing 

9 child pornography to any Federal, State, or 

10 local law enforcement agency, or giving such 

11 agency access to child pornography, in response 

12 to a search warrant, court order, or other legal 

13 process issued or obtained by such agency; or 

14 ‘‘(C) the use by the provider or domain 

15 name registrar of any material being preserved 

16 under section 2258A(h) by such provider or 

17 registrar for research conducted voluntarily and 

18 in good faith for the sole and exclusive purpose 

19 of— 

20 ‘‘(i) improving or facilitating reporting 

21 under this section, section 2258A, or sec22 tion 2258C; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) stopping the online sexual exploi24 tation of children.’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; 

2 or’’ and inserting ‘‘or knowingly failed to 

3 comply with a requirement under section 

4 2258A;’’; 

5 (ii) in paragraph (2)(C)— 

6 (I) by striking ‘‘this section, sec7 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘this section or 

8 section’’; and 

9 (II) by striking the period and 

10 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(3) for purposes of subsection (a)(2)(C), 

14 knowingly distributed or transmitted the material, or 

15 made the material available, except as required by 

16 law, to— 

17 ‘‘(A) any other entity; 

18 ‘‘(B) any person not employed by the pro19 vider or domain name registrar; or 

20 ‘‘(C) any person employed by the provider 

21 or domain name registrar who is not conducting 

22 any research described in that subsection.’’; 

23 (3) in section 2258C— 


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1 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘the CyberTipline’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘NCMEC’’; 

4 (B) in subsection (a)— 

5 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik6 ing ‘‘ELEMENTS’’ and inserting ‘‘PROVI7 SION TO PROVIDERS AND NONPROFIT EN8 TITIES’’; 

9 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘to a provider’’ 

11 and inserting the following: ‘‘or sub12 mission to the child victim identifica13 tion program to— 

14 ‘‘(A) a provider’’; 

15 (II) in subparagraph (A), as so 

16 designated— 

17 (aa) by inserting ‘‘use of the 

18 provider’s products or services to 

19 commit’’ after ‘‘stop the’’; and 

20 (bb) by striking the period 

21 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

22 and 

23 (III) by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit entity for the sole and ex2 clusive purpose of preventing and curtailing the 

3 online sexual exploitation of children.’’; and 

4 (iii) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (I) in the heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘INCLUSIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘ELE7 MENTS’’; 

8 (II) by striking ‘‘unique identi9 fiers’’ and inserting ‘‘similar technical 

10 identifiers’’; and 

11 (III) by inserting ‘‘or submission 

12 to the child victim identification pro13 gram’’ after ‘‘CyberTipline report’’; 

14 (C) in subsection (b)— 

15 (i) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘OR

16 NONPROFIT ENTITIES’’ after ‘‘PRO17 VIDERS’’; 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘Any provider’’ and in19 serting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any provider or nonprofit 

21 entity’’; 

22 (iii) in paragraph (1), as so des23 ignated— 

24 (I) by striking ‘‘receives’’ and in25 serting ‘‘obtains’’; and 


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1 (II) by inserting ‘‘or submission 

2 to the child victim identification pro3 gram’’ after ‘‘CyberTipline report’’; 

4 and 

5 (iv) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON SHARING WITH OTHER EN8 TITIES.—A provider or nonprofit entity that obtains 

9 elements under subsection (a)(1) may not distribute 

10 those elements, or make those elements available, to 

11 any other entity, except for the sole and exclusive 

12 purpose of stopping the online sexual exploitation of 

13 children.’’; 

14 (D) in subsection (c)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and in16 serting ‘‘subsection’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘providers receiving’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘a provider to obtain’’; 

19 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or submission to the 

20 child victim identification program’’ after 

21 ‘‘CyberTipline report’’; and 

22 (iv) by striking ‘‘to use the elements 

23 to stop the online sexual exploitation of 

24 children’’; and 


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1 (E) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or to 

2 the child victim identification program’’ after 

3 ‘‘CyberTipline’’; 

4 (4) in section 2258E— 

5 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘elec6 tronic communication service provider’’ and in7 serting ‘‘electronic communication service’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

12 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(9) the term ‘publicly available’, with respect 

14 to a visual depiction on a provider’s service, means 

15 the visual depiction can be viewed by or is accessible 

16 to all users of the service, regardless of the steps, if 

17 any, a user must take to create an account or to 

18 gain access to the service in order to access or view 

19 the visual depiction; and 

20 ‘‘(10) the term ‘child victim identification pro21 gram’ means the program described in section 

22 404(b)(1)(K)(ii) of the Juvenile Justice and Delin23 quency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 

24 11293(b)(1)(K)(ii)).’’; 


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1 (5) in section 2259B(a), by inserting ‘‘, any 

2 fine or penalty collected under section 2258A(e) or 

3 subparagraph (A) of section 6(g)(24) of the STOP 

4 CSAM Act of 2024 (except as provided in clauses (i) 

5 and (ii)(I) of subparagraph (B) of such section 

6 6(g)(24)),’’ after ‘‘2259A’’; and 

7 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 2260B. Liability for certain child exploitation of9 fenses 

10 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for a provider 

11 of an interactive computer service, as that term is defined 

12 in section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 230), that operates through the use of any facility 

14 or means of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affect15 ing interstate or foreign commerce, through such service 

16 to— 

17 ‘‘(1) intentionally host or store child pornog18 raphy or make child pornography available to any 

19 person; or 

20 ‘‘(2) knowingly promote or facilitate a violation 

21 of section 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, or 2422(b). 

22 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—A provider of an interactive com23 puter service that violates subsection (a)— 

24 ‘‘(1) subject to paragraph (2), shall be fined not 

25 more than $1,000,000; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) if the offense involves a conscious or reck2 less risk of serious personal injury or an individual 

3 is harmed as a direct and proximate result of the 

4 violation, shall be fined not more than $5,000,000. 

5 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec6 tion shall be construed to apply to any good faith action 

7 by a provider of an interactive computer service that is 

8 necessary to comply with a valid court order, subpoena, 

9 search warrant, statutory obligation, or preservation re10 quest from law enforcement.’’. 

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

12 for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2260B. Liability for certain child exploitation offenses.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR AMENDMENTS TO RE15 PORTING REQUIREMENTS OF PROVIDERS.—The amend16 ments made by subsection (a)(1) of this section shall take 

17 effect on the date that is 120 days after the date of enact18 ment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. EXPANDING CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VICTIMS OF ON20 LINE CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. 

21 (a) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—Nothing in this section 

22 shall be construed to abrogate or narrow any case law con23 cerning section 2255 of title 18, United States Code. 

24 (b) CIVIL REMEDY FOR PERSONAL INJURIES.—Sec25 tion 2255(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL.—Any person 

2 who, while a minor, was a victim of a violation of 

3 section 1589, 1590, 1591, 2241(c), 2242, 2243, 

4 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2260, 2421, 2422, or 

5 2423 of this title and who suffers personal injury as 

6 a result of such violation, regardless of whether the 

7 injury occurred while such person was a minor, may 

8 sue’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘PRIVATE RIGHT

9 OF ACTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person described in 

11 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) who 

12 suffers personal injury as a result of a violation de13 scribed in that subparagraph, regardless of whether 

14 the injury occurred while such person was a minor, 

15 may bring a civil action’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—Paragraph (1) shall 

18 apply to any person— 

19 ‘‘(A) who, while a minor, was a victim of— 

20 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 1589, 1590, 

21 1591, 2241, 2242, 2243, 2251, 2251A, 

22 2260(a), 2421, 2422, or 2423; 

23 ‘‘(ii) an attempt to violate section 

24 1589, 1590, or 1591 under section 

25 1594(a); 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a conspiracy to violate section 

2 1589 or 1590 under section 1594(b); or 

3 ‘‘(iv) a conspiracy to violate section 

4 1591 under section 1594(c); 

5 ‘‘(B) who— 

6 ‘‘(i) is depicted as a minor in child 

7 pornography; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) is a victim of a violation of 2252, 

9 2252A, or 2260(b) (regardless of when the 

10 violation occurs); or 

11 ‘‘(C) who— 

12 ‘‘(i) is depicted as an identifiable 

13 minor in a visual depiction described in 

14 section 1466A; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) is a victim of a violation of that 

16 section (regardless of when the violation 

17 occurs).’’. 

18 (c) CIVIL REMEDY AGAINST ONLINE PLATFORMS

19 AND APP STORES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, 

21 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

22 section 2255 the following: 

23 ‘‘§ 2255A. Civil remedy against online platforms and 

24 app stores 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROMOTION OR AIDING AND ABETTING OF

2 CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.—Any person who is a victim 

3 of the intentional or knowing promotion, or aiding 

4 and abetting, of a violation of section 1591 or 

5 1594(c) (involving a minor), or section 2251, 2251A, 

6 2252, 2252A, or 2422(b), where such promotion, or 

7 aiding and abetting, is by a provider of an inter8 active computer service or an app store, and who 

9 suffers personal injury as a result of such promotion 

10 or aiding and abetting, regardless of when the injury 

11 occurred, may bring a civil action in any appropriate 

12 United States District Court for relief set forth in 

13 subsection (b). 

14 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES INVOLVING CHILD PORNOG15 RAPHY.—Any person who is a victim of the inten16 tional or knowing hosting or storing of child pornog17 raphy or making child pornography available to any 

18 person by a provider of an interactive computer serv19 ice, and who suffers personal injury as a result of 

20 such hosting, storing, or making available, regard21 less of when the injury occurred, may bring a civil 

22 action in any appropriate United States District 

23 Court for relief set forth in subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought by a person 

25 under subsection (a)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the person shall recover the actual dam2 ages the person sustains or liquidated damages in 

3 the amount of $300,000, and the cost of the action, 

4 including reasonable attorney fees and other litiga5 tion costs reasonably incurred; and 

6 ‘‘(2) the court may, in addition to any other re7 lief available at law, award punitive damages and 

8 such other preliminary and equitable relief as the 

9 court determines to be appropriate, including a tem10 porary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or 

11 a permanent injunction ordering the defendant to 

12 cease the offending conduct. 

13 ‘‘(c) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—There shall be no 

14 time limit for the filing of a complaint commencing an 

15 action under subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘(d) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) VENUE.—Any action brought under sub18 section (a) may be brought in the district court of 

19 the United States that meets applicable require20 ments relating to venue under section 1391 of title 

21 28. 

22 ‘‘(2) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

23 brought under subsection (a), process may be served 

24 in any district in which the defendant— 

25 ‘‘(A) is an inhabitant; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) may be found. 

2 ‘‘(e) RELATION TO SECTION 230 OF THE COMMU3 NICATIONS ACT OF 1934.—Nothing in section 230 of the 

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) shall be 

5 construed to impair or limit any claim brought under sub6 section (a). 

7 ‘‘(f) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY TO LEGAL PROCESS OR OB9 LIGATION.—Nothing in this section shall be con10 strued to apply to any good faith action that is nec11 essary to comply with a valid court order, subpoena, 

12 search warrant, statutory obligation, or preservation 

13 request from law enforcement. 

14 ‘‘(2) KNOWLEDGE WITH RESPECT TO EACH

15 ITEM REQUIRED.—For purposes of a claim brought 

16 under subsection (a)(2), the term ‘knowing’ shall be 

17 construed to mean knowledge of each item of child 

18 pornography that the provider hosted, stored, or 

19 made available. 

20 ‘‘(g) ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—None of the following ac22 tions or circumstances shall serve as an independent 

23 basis for liability under subsection (a): 


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1 ‘‘(A) Utilizing full end-to-end encrypted 

2 messaging services, device encryption, or other 

3 encryption services. 

4 ‘‘(B) Not possessing the information nec5 essary to decrypt a communication. 

6 ‘‘(C) Failing to take an action that would 

7 otherwise undermine the ability to offer full 

8 end-to-end encrypted messaging services, device 

9 encryption, or other encryption services. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) PERMITTED USE.—Evidence of ac12 tions or circumstances described in paragraph 

13 (1) shall be admissible in a civil action brought 

14 under subsection (a) only if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the actions or circumstances are 

16 relevant under rules 401 and 402 of the 

17 Federal Rules of Evidence to— 

18 ‘‘(I) prove motive, intent, prepa19 ration, plan, absence of mistake, or 

20 lack of accident; or 

21 ‘‘(II) rebut any evidence or fac22 tual or legal claim; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the actions or circumstances are 

24 not subject to exclusion under rule 403 of 

25 the Federal Rules of Evidence. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—In a civil action brought 

2 under subsection (a), a plaintiff seeking to in3 troduce evidence of actions or circumstances 

4 under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) provide reasonable notice— 

7 ‘‘(I) in writing before trial; or 

8 ‘‘(II) in any form during trial if 

9 the court, for good cause, excuses lack 

10 of pretrial notice; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) articulate in the notice described 

12 in clause (i) the permitted purpose for 

13 which the plaintiff intends to offer the evi14 dence and the reasoning that supports the 

15 purpose. 

16 ‘‘(h) DEFENSE.—In a claim under subsection (a)(2) 

17 involving knowing conduct, it shall be a defense, which the 

18 provider of an interactive computer service must establish 

19 by a preponderance of the evidence, that— 

20 ‘‘(1) the provider disabled access to or removed 

21 the child pornography within a reasonable time22 frame, and in any event not later than 48 hours 

23 after obtaining knowledge that the child pornog24 raphy was being hosted, stored, or made available by 

25 the provider (or, in the case of a provider that, for 


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1 the most recent calendar year, averaged fewer than 

2 10,000,000 active users on a monthly basis in the 

3 United States, within a reasonable timeframe, and 

4 in any event not later than 2 business days after ob5 taining such knowledge); or 

6 ‘‘(2) the provider— 

7 ‘‘(A) exercised a reasonable, good faith ef8 fort to disable access to or remove the child 

9 pornography but was unable to do so for rea10 sons outside the provider’s control; and 

11 ‘‘(B) determined it is technologically im12 possible for the provider to disable access to or 

13 remove the child pornography without compro14 mising encryption technologies. 

15 ‘‘(i) SANCTIONS FOR REPEATED BAD FAITH CIVIL

16 ACTIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a civil action 

18 brought under subsection (a), the court may impose 

19 sanctions on— 

20 ‘‘(A) the party bringing the civil action if 

21 the court finds that the party has brought 2 or 

22 more bad faith civil actions (which may include 

23 the instant civil action); or 

24 ‘‘(B) an attorney or law firm representing 

25 the party bringing the civil action if the court 


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1 finds that the attorney or law firm has rep2 resented— 

3 ‘‘(i) a party who has brought 2 or 

4 more bad faith civil actions (which may in5 clude the instant civil action); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) 2 or more parties who have each 

7 brought a bad faith civil action (which may 

8 include the instant civil action). 

9 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF BAD FAITH CIVIL AC10 TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 

11 ‘bad faith civil action’ means a civil action brought 

12 under subsection (a) in bad faith where the finder 

13 of fact determined that at the time the civil action 

14 was filed, the party, attorney, or law firm described 

15 in paragraph (1) had actual knowledge that the al16 leged conduct— 

17 ‘‘(A) did not involve any minor; or 

18 ‘‘(B) did not involve any child pornog19 raphy. 

20 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Rule 11(c) of the 

21 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply to sanc22 tions imposed under this subsection in the same 

23 manner as that Rule applies to sanctions imposed 

24 for a violation of Rule 11(b) of those Rules. 

25 ‘‘(4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) RULE 11.—This subsection shall not 

2 be construed to limit or expand the application 

3 of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce4 dure. 

5 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION CHANGE.—Paragraph 

6 (2)(B) shall not be construed to apply to a civil 

7 action affected by a contemporaneous change in 

8 the law with respect to the definition of ‘child 

9 pornography’. 

10 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) APP.—The term ‘app’ means a software 

12 application or electronic service that may be run or 

13 directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, 

14 or any other general purpose computing device. 

15 ‘‘(2) APP STORE.—The term ‘app store’ means 

16 a publicly available website, software application, or 

17 other electronic service that— 

18 ‘‘(A) distributes apps from third-party de19 velopers to users of a computer, a mobile de20 vice, or any other general purpose computing 

21 device; and 

22 ‘‘(B) operates— 

23 ‘‘(i) through the use of any means or 

24 facility of interstate or foreign commerce; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in or affecting interstate or for2 eign commerce. 

3 ‘‘(3) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The 

4 term ‘interactive computer service’ means an inter5 active computer service, as defined in section 230(f) 

6 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

7 230(f)), that operates— 

8 ‘‘(A) through the use of any means or fa9 cility of interstate or foreign commerce; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in or affecting interstate or foreign 

11 commerce.’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

13 sections for chapter 110 of title 18, United States 

14 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

15 to section 2255 the following: 

‘‘2255A. Civil remedy against online platforms and app stores.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. REPORTING AND REMOVAL OF CHILD SEXUAL 

17 ABUSE MATERIAL; ESTABLISHMENT OF 

18 CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION BOARD. 

19 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

20 (1) Over 40 years ago, the Supreme Court of 

21 the United States ruled in New York v. Ferber, 458 

22 U.S. 747 (1982), that child sexual abuse material 

23 (referred to in this subsection as ‘‘CSAM’’) is a 

24 ‘‘category of material outside the protections of the 

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1 dren depicted in CSAM are harmed twice: first 

2 through the abuse and exploitation inherent in the 

3 creation of the materials, and then through the con4 tinued circulation of the imagery, which inflicts its 

5 own emotional and psychological injury. 

6 (2) The Supreme Court reiterated this point 10 

7 years ago in Paroline v. United States, 572 U.S. 

8 434 (2014), when it explained that CSAM victims 

9 suffer ‘‘continuing and grievous harm as a result of 

10 [their] knowledge that a large, indeterminate num11 ber of individuals have viewed and will in the future 

12 view images of the sexual abuse they endured’’. 

13 (3) In these decisions, the Supreme Court noted 

14 that the distribution of CSAM invades the privacy 

15 interests of the victims. 

16 (4) The co-mingling online of CSAM with other, 

17 non-explicit depictions of the victims links the vic18 tim’s identity with the images of their abuse. This 

19 further invades a victim’s privacy and disrupts their 

20 sense of security, thwarting what the Supreme Court 

21 has described as ‘‘the individual interest in avoiding 

22 disclosure of personal matters’’. 

23 (5) The internet is awash with child sexual 

24 abuse material. In 2022, the CyberTipline, operated 

25 by the National Center for Missing & Exploited ChilVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7949.IH H7949

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1 dren to combat online child sexual exploitation, re2 ceived reports about 49,400,000 images and 

3 37,700,000 videos depicting child sexual abuse. 

4 (6) Since 2017, Project Arachnid, operated by 

5 the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, has sent 

6 over 38,000,000 notices to online providers about 

7 CSAM and other exploitive material found on their 

8 platforms. According to the Canadian Centre, some 

9 providers are slow to remove the material, or take it 

10 down only for it to be reposted again a short time 

11 later. 

12 (7) This legislation is needed to create an easy13 to-use and effective procedure to get CSAM and 

14 harmful related imagery quickly taken offline and 

15 kept offline to protect children, stop the spread of il16 legal and harmful content, and thwart the continued 

17 invasion of the victims’ privacy. 

18 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

19 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—Except as provided in 

20 paragraph (2), not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Child Online Protec22 tion Board established under subsection (d), shall 

23 begin operations, at which point providers shall 

24 begin receiving notifications as set forth in sub25 section (c)(2). 


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1 (2) EXTENSION.—The Commission may extend 

2 the deadline under paragraph (1) by not more than 

3 180 days if the Commission provides notice of the 

4 extension to the public and to Congress. 

5 (3) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Commission shall 

6 provide notice to the public of the date that the 

7 Child Online Protection Board established under 

8 subsection (d) is scheduled to begin operations on— 

9 (A) the date that is 60 days before such 

10 date that the Board is scheduled to begin oper11 ations; and 

12 (B) the date that is 30 days before such 

13 date that the Board is scheduled to begin oper14 ations. 

15 (c) REPORTING AND REMOVAL OF CHILD SEXUAL

16 ABUSE MATERIAL.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a provider receives a com18 plete notification as set forth in paragraph (2)(A) 

19 that the provider is hosting child sexual abuse mate20 rial, as soon as possible, but in any event not later 

21 than 48 hours after such notification is received by 

22 the provider (or, in the case of a small provider, not 

23 later than 2 business days after such notification is 

24 received by the small provider), the provider shall— 


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1 (A)(i) remove the child sexual abuse mate2 rial; and 

3 (ii) notify the complainant that it has done 

4 so; or 

5 (B) notify the complainant that the pro6 vider— 

7 (i) has determined that the visual de8 piction referenced in the notification does 

9 not constitute child sexual abuse material; 

10 (ii) is unable to remove the child sex11 ual abuse material using reasonable means; 

12 or 

13 (iii) has determined that the notifica14 tion is duplicative under paragraph 

15 (2)(C)(i). 

16 (2) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be complete under 

18 this subsection, a notification must be a written 

19 communication to the designated reporting sys20 tem of the provider (or, if the provider does not 

21 have a designated reporting system, a written 

22 communication that is served on the provider in 

23 accordance with subparagraph (F)) that in24 cludes the following: 


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1 (i) An identification of, and informa2 tion reasonably sufficient to permit the 

3 provider to locate, the child sexual abuse 

4 material. Such information may include, at 

5 the option of the complainant, a copy of 

6 the child sexual abuse material or the uni7 form resource locator where such child sex8 ual abuse material is located. 

9 (ii) The complainant’s name and con10 tact information, to include a mailing ad11 dress, telephone number, and an electronic 

12 mail address, except that, if the complain13 ant is the victim depicted in the child sex14 ual abuse material, the complainant may 

15 elect to use an alias, including for purposes 

16 of the signed statement described in clause 

17 (v), and omit a mailing address. 

18 (iii) If applicable, a statement indi19 cating that the complainant has previously 

20 notified the provider about the child sexual 

21 abuse material which may, at the option of 

22 the complainant, include a copy of the pre23 vious notification. 

24 (iv) A statement indicating that the 

25 complainant has a good faith belief that 


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1 the information in the notification is accu2 rate. 

3 (v) A signed statement under penalty 

4 of perjury indicating that the notification 

5 is submitted by— 

6 (I) the victim depicted in the 

7 child sexual abuse material; 

8 (II) an authorized representative 

9 of the victim depicted in the child sex10 ual abuse material; or 

11 (III) a qualified organization. 

12 (B) INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL VISUAL

13 DEPICTIONS IN A NOTIFICATION.— 

14 (i) MULTIPLE ITEMS OF CHILD SEX15 UAL ABUSE MATERIAL IN SAME NOTIFICA16 TION.—A notification may contain infor17 mation about more than one item of child 

18 sexual abuse material, but shall only be ef19 fective with respect to each item of child 

20 sexual abuse material included in the noti21 fication to the extent that the notification 

22 includes sufficient information to identify 

23 and locate such item of child sexual abuse 

24 material. 


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1 (ii) RELATED EXPLOITIVE VISUAL DE2 PICTIONS.— 

3 (I) IN GENERAL.—A notification 

4 may contain information about any 

5 related exploitive visual depictions as6 sociated with the child sexual abuse 

7 material described in the notification, 

8 along with the information described 

9 in subparagraph (A)(i) for each re10 lated exploitive visual depiction. Such 

11 notification shall clearly indicate 

12 which visual depiction is a related 

13 exploitive visual depiction. Such notifi14 cation shall include a statement indi15 cating that the complainant acknowl16 edges that the provider may, but is 

17 not required to, remove the related 

18 exploitive visual depiction, and that 

19 the complainant cannot file a petition 

20 with the Child Online Protection 

21 Board concerning any alleged failure 

22 to remove a related exploitive visual 

23 depiction. 

24 (II) NO OBLIGATION.—A pro25 vider shall not be required to take any 


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1 action under this section concerning a 

2 related exploitive visual depiction. A 

3 provider may, in its sole discretion, re4 move a related exploitive visual depic5 tion. The procedure set forth in sub6 section (g)(1) shall not apply to re7 lated exploitive visual depictions. 

8 (C) LIMITATION ON DUPLICATIVE NOTIFI9 CATIONS.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—After a complain11 ant has submitted a notification to a pro12 vider, the complainant may submit addi13 tional notifications at any time only if the 

14 subsequent notifications involve— 

15 (I) a different item of child sex16 ual abuse material; 

17 (II) the same item of child sexual 

18 abuse material relating to a minor 

19 that is in a different location; or 

20 (III) recidivist hosting. 

21 (ii) NO OBLIGATION.—A provider who 

22 receives any additional notifications that 

23 do not comply with clause (i) shall not be 

24 required to take any additional action ex25 cept— 


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1 (I) as may be required with re2 spect to the original notification; and 

3 (II) to notify the complainant as 

4 provided in paragraph (1)(B)(iii). 

5 (D) INCOMPLETE OR MISDIRECTED NOTI6 FICATION.— 

7 (i) REQUIREMENT TO CONTACT COM8 PLAINANT REGARDING INSUFFICIENT IN9 FORMATION.— 

10 (I) REQUIREMENT TO CONTACT

11 COMPLAINANT.—If a notification that 

12 is submitted to a provider under this 

13 subsection does not contain sufficient 

14 information under subparagraph 

15 (A)(i) to identify or locate the child 

16 sexual abuse material that is the sub17 ject of the notification but does con18 tain the complainant contact informa19 tion described in subparagraph 

20 (A)(ii), the provider shall, not later 

21 than 48 hours after receiving the noti22 fication (or, in the case of a small 

23 provider, not later than 2 business 

24 days after such notification is received 

25 by the small provider), contact the 


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1 complainant via electronic mail ad2 dress to obtain such information. 

3 (II) EFFECT OF COMPLAINANT

4 PROVIDING SUFFICIENT INFORMA5 TION.—If the provider is able to con6 tact the complainant and obtain suffi7 cient information to identify or locate 

8 the child sexual abuse material that is 

9 the subject of the notification, the 

10 provider shall then proceed as set 

11 forth in paragraph (1), except that 

12 the applicable timeframes described in 

13 such paragraph shall commence on 

14 the day the provider receives the in15 formation needed to identify or locate 

16 the child sexual abuse material. 

17 (III) EFFECT OF COMPLAINANT

18 INABILITY TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT

19 INFORMATION.—If the provider is able 

20 to contact the complainant but does 

21 not obtain sufficient information to 

22 identify or locate the child sexual 

23 abuse material that is the subject of 

24 the notification, the provider shall so 

25 notify the complainant not later than 


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1 48 hours after the provider deter2 mines that it is unable to identify or 

3 locate the child sexual abuse material 

4 (or, in the case of a small provider, 

5 not later than 2 business days after 

6 the small provider makes such deter7 mination), after which no further ac8 tion by the provider is required and 

9 receipt of the notification shall not be 

10 considered in determining whether the 

11 provider has actual knowledge of any 

12 information described in the notifica13 tion. 

14 (IV) EFFECT OF COMPLAINANT

15 FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If the com16 plainant does not respond to the pro17 vider’s attempt to contact the com18 plainant under this clause within 14 

19 days of such attempt, no further ac20 tion by the provider is required and 

21 receipt of the notification shall not be 

22 considered in determining whether the 

23 provider has actual knowledge of any 

24 information described in the notifica25 tion. 


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1 (ii) TREATMENT OF INCOMPLETE NO2 TIFICATION WHERE COMPLAINANT CANNOT

3 BE CONTACTED.—If a notification that is 

4 submitted to a provider under this sub5 section does not contain sufficient informa6 tion under subparagraph (A)(i) to identify 

7 or locate the child sexual abuse material 

8 that is the subject of the notification and 

9 does not contain the complainant contact 

10 information described in subparagraph 

11 (A)(ii) (or if the provider is unable to con12 tact the complainant using such informa13 tion), no further action by the provider is 

14 required and receipt of the notification 

15 shall not be considered in determining 

16 whether the provider has actual knowledge 

17 of any information described in the notifi18 cation. 

19 (iii) TREATMENT OF NOTIFICATION

20 NOT SUBMITTED TO DESIGNATED REPORT21 ING SYSTEM.—If a provider has a des22 ignated reporting system, and a complain23 ant submits a notification under this sub24 section to the provider without using such 


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1 system, the provider shall not be consid2 ered to have received the notification. 

3 (E) OPTION TO CONTACT COMPLAINANT

4 REGARDING THE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATE5 RIAL.— 

6 (i) CONTACT WITH COMPLAINANT.—If 

7 the provider believes that the child sexual 

8 abuse material referenced in the notifica9 tion does not meet the definition of such 

10 term as provided in subsection (r)(10), the 

11 provider may, not later than 48 hours 

12 after receiving the notification (or, in the 

13 case of a small provider, not later than 2 

14 business days after such notification is re15 ceived by the small provider), contact the 

16 complainant via electronic mail address to 

17 so indicate. 

18 (ii) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If the 

19 complainant does not respond to the pro20 vider within 14 days after receiving the no21 tification, no further action by the provider 

22 is required and receipt of the notification 

23 shall not be considered in determining 

24 whether the provider has actual knowledge 


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1 of any information described in the notifi2 cation. 

3 (iii) COMPLAINANT RESPONSE.—If the 

4 complainant responds to the provider with5 in 14 days after receiving the notification, 

6 the provider shall then proceed as set forth 

7 in paragraph (1), except that the applica8 ble timeframes described in such para9 graph shall commence on the day the pro10 vider receives the complainant’s response. 

11 (F) SERVICE OF NOTIFICATION WHERE

12 PROVIDER HAS NO DESIGNATED REPORTING

13 SYSTEM; PROCESS WHERE COMPLAINANT CAN14 NOT SERVE PROVIDER.— 

15 (i) NO DESIGNATED REPORTING SYS16 TEM.—If a provider does not have a des17 ignated reporting system, a complainant 

18 may serve the provider with a notification 

19 under this subsection to the provider in the 

20 same manner that petitions are required to 

21 be served under subsection (g)(4). 

22 (ii) COMPLAINANT CANNOT SERVE

23 PROVIDER.—If a provider does not have a 

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1 vider with a notification as described in 

2 clause (i), the complainant may bring a pe3 tition under subsection (g)(1) without serv4 ing the provider with the notification. 

5 (G) RECIDIVIST HOSTING.—If a provider 

6 engages in recidivist hosting of child sexual 

7 abuse material, in addition to any action taken 

8 under this section, a complainant may submit a 

9 report concerning such recidivist hosting to the 

10 CyberTipline operated by the National Center 

11 for Missing and Exploited Children, or any suc12 cessor to the CyberTipline operated by the Na13 tional Center for Missing and Exploited Chil14 dren. 

15 (H) PRESERVATION.—A provider that re16 ceives a complete notification under this sub17 section shall preserve the information in such 

18 notification in accordance with the requirements 

19 of sections 2713 and 2258A(h) of title 18, 

20 United States Code. For purposes of this sub21 paragraph, the period for which providers shall 

22 be required to preserve information in accord23 ance with such section 2258A(h) may be ex24 tended in 90-day increments on written request 

25 by the complainant or order of the Board. 


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1 (I) NON-DISCLOSURE.—Except as other2 wise provided in subsection (g)(19)(C), for 120 

3 days following receipt of a notification under 

4 this subsection, a provider may not disclose the 

5 existence of the notification to any person or 

6 entity except to an attorney for purposes of ob7 taining legal advice, the Board, the Commis8 sion, a law enforcement agency described in 

9 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 

10 2258A(g)(3) of title 18, United States Code, 

11 the National Center for Missing and Exploited 

12 Children, or as necessary to respond to legal 

13 process. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall 

14 be construed to infringe on the provider’s abil15 ity to communicate general information about 

16 terms of service violations. 

17 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILD ONLINE PROTEC18 TION BOARD.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

20 Federal Trade Commission a Child Online Protec21 tion Board, which shall administer and enforce the 

22 requirements of subsection (e) in accordance with 

23 this section. 

24 (2) OFFICERS AND STAFF.—The Board shall be 

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1 ficers who shall be appointed by the Commission in 

2 accordance with paragraph (5)(A). A vacancy on the 

3 Board shall not impair the right of the remaining 

4 Child Online Protection Officers to exercise the 

5 functions and duties of the Board. 

6 (3) CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ATTORNEYS.— 

7 Not fewer than 2 full-time Child Online Protection 

8 Attorneys shall be hired to assist in the administra9 tion of the Board. 

10 (4) TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISER.—One or more 

11 technological advisers may be hired to assist with 

12 the handling of digital evidence and consult with the 

13 Child Online Protection Officers on matters con14 cerning digital evidence and technological issues. 

15 (5) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

16 (A) OFFICERS.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each Child Online 

18 Protection Officer shall be an attorney 

19 duly licensed in at least 1 United States 

20 jurisdiction who has not fewer than 7 years 

21 of legal experience concerning child sexual 

22 abuse material and technology-facilitated 

23 crimes against children. 

24 (ii) EXPERIENCE.—Two of the Child 

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1 stantial experience in the evaluation, litiga2 tion, or adjudication of matters relating to 

3 child sexual abuse material or technology4 facilitated crimes against children. 

5 (B) ATTORNEYS.—Each Child Online Pro6 tection Attorney shall be an attorney duly li7 censed in at least 1 United States jurisdiction 

8 who has not fewer than 3 years of substantial 

9 legal experience concerning child sexual abuse 

10 material and technology-facilitated crimes 

11 against children. 

12 (C) TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISER.—A techno13 logical adviser shall have at least one year of 

14 specialized experience with digital forensic anal15 ysis. 

16 (6) COMPENSATION.— 

17 (A) CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION OFFI18 CERS.— 

19 (i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara20 graph, the term ‘‘senior level employee of 

21 the Federal Government’’ means an em22 ployee, other than an employee in the Sen23 ior Executive Service, the position of whom 

24 is classified above GS–15 of the General 

25 Schedule. 


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1 (ii) PAY RANGE.—Each Child Online 

2 Protection Officer shall be compensated at 

3 a rate of pay that is not less than the min4 imum, and not more than the maximum, 

5 rate of pay payable for senior level employ6 ees of the Federal Government, including 

7 locality pay, as applicable. 

8 (B) CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ATTOR9 NEYS.—Each Child Online Protection Attorney 

10 shall be compensated at a rate of pay that is 

11 not more than the maximum rate of pay pay12 able for level 10 of GS–15 of the General 

13 Schedule, including locality pay, as applicable. 

14 (C) TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISER.—A techno15 logical adviser of the Board shall be com16 pensated at a rate of pay that is not more than 

17 the maximum rate of pay payable for level 10 

18 of GS–14 of the General Schedule, including lo19 cality pay, as applicable. 

20 (7) VACANCY.—If a vacancy occurs in the posi21 tion of Child Online Protection Officer, the Commis22 sion shall act expeditiously to appoint an Officer for 

23 that position. 

24 (8) SANCTION OR REMOVAL.—Subject to sub25 section (e)(2), the Chair of the Commission or the 


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1 Commission may sanction or remove a Child Online 

2 Protection Officer. 

3 (9) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Commis4 sion shall provide the Child Online Protection Offi5 cers and Child Online Protection Attorneys with nec6 essary administrative support, including techno7 logical facilities, to carry out the duties of the Offi8 cers and Attorneys under this section. The Depart9 ment of Justice may provide equipment for and 

10 guidance on the storage and handling of child sexual 

11 abuse material. 

12 (10) LOCATION OF BOARD.—The offices and fa13 cilities of the Child Online Protection Officers and 

14 Child Online Protection Attorneys shall be located at 

15 the headquarters or other office of the Commission. 

16 (e) AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD.— 

17 (1) FUNCTIONS.— 

18 (A) OFFICERS.—Subject to the provisions 

19 of this section and applicable regulations, the 

20 functions of the Officers of the Board shall be 

21 as follows: 

22 (i) To render determinations on peti23 tions that may be brought before the Offi24 cers under this section. 


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1 (ii) To ensure that petitions and re2 sponses are properly asserted and other3 wise appropriate for resolution by the 

4 Board. 

5 (iii) To manage the proceedings before 

6 the Officers and render determinations 

7 pertaining to the consideration of petitions 

8 and responses, including with respect to 

9 scheduling, discovery, evidentiary, and 

10 other matters. 

11 (iv) To request, from participants and 

12 nonparticipants in a proceeding, the pro13 duction of information and documents rel14 evant to the resolution of a petition or re15 sponse. 

16 (v) To conduct hearings and con17 ferences. 

18 (vi) To facilitate the settlement by the 

19 parties of petitions and responses. 

20 (vii) To impose fines as set forth in 

21 subsection (g)(24). 

22 (viii) To provide information to the 

23 public concerning the procedures and re24 quirements of the Board. 


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1 (ix) To maintain records of the pro2 ceedings before the Officers, certify official 

3 records of such proceedings as needed, 

4 and, as provided in subsection (g)(19)(A), 

5 make the records in such proceedings 

6 available to the public. 

7 (x) To carry out such other duties as 

8 are set forth in this section. 

9 (xi) When not engaged in performing 

10 the duties of the Officers set forth in this 

11 section, to perform such other duties as 

12 may be assigned by the Chair of the Com13 mission or the Commission. 

14 (B) ATTORNEYS.—Subject to the provi15 sions of this section and applicable regulations, 

16 the functions of the Attorneys of the Board 

17 shall be as follows: 

18 (i) To provide assistance to the Offi19 cers of the Board in the administration of 

20 the duties of those Officers under this sec21 tion. 

22 (ii) To provide assistance to complain23 ants, providers, and members of the public 

24 with respect to the procedures and require25 ments of the Board. 


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1 (iii) When not engaged in performing 

2 the duties of the Attorneys set forth in this 

3 section, to perform such other duties as 

4 may be assigned by the Commission. 

5 (C) DESIGNATED SERVICE AGENTS.—The 

6 Board may maintain a publicly available direc7 tory of service agents designated to receive serv8 ice of petitions filed with the Board. 

9 (2) INDEPENDENCE IN DETERMINATIONS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall render 

11 the determinations of the Board in individual 

12 proceedings independently on the basis of the 

13 records in the proceedings before it and in ac14 cordance with the provisions of this section, ju15 dicial precedent, and applicable regulations of 

16 the Commission. 

17 (B) PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS.—Not18 withstanding any other provision of law or any 

19 regulation or policy of the Commission, any per20 formance appraisal of an Officer or Attorney of 

21 the Board may not consider the substantive re22 sult of any individual determination reached by 

23 the Board as a basis for appraisal except to the 

24 extent that result may relate to any actual or 


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1 alleged violation of an ethical standard of con2 duct. 

3 (3) DIRECTION BY COMMISSION.—Subject to 

4 paragraph (2), the Officers and Attorneys shall, in 

5 the administration of their duties, be under the su6 pervision of the Chair of the Commission. 

7 (4) INCONSISTENT DUTIES BARRED.—An Offi8 cer or Attorney of the Board may not undertake any 

9 duty that conflicts with the duties of the Officer or 

10 Attorney in connection with the Board, to include 

11 the obligation to render impartial determinations on 

12 petitions considered by the Board under this section. 

13 (5) RECUSAL.—An Officer or Attorney of the 

14 Board shall recuse himself or herself from participa15 tion in any proceeding with respect to which the Of16 ficer or Attorney, as the case may be, has reason to 

17 believe that he or she has a conflict of interest. 

18 (6) EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS.—Except as 

19 may otherwise be permitted by applicable law, any 

20 party or interested owner involved in a proceeding 

21 before the Board shall refrain from ex parte commu22 nications with the Officers of the Board and the 

23 Commission relevant to the merits of such pro24 ceeding before the Board. 


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1 (7) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Actions of the Officers 

2 and the Commission under this section in connection 

3 with the rendering of any determination are subject 

4 to judicial review as provided under subsection 

5 (g)(28). 

6 (f) CONDUCT OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Proceedings of the Board 

8 shall be conducted in accordance with this section 

9 and regulations established by the Commission 

10 under this section, in addition to relevant principles 

11 of law. 

12 (2) RECORD.—The Board shall maintain 

13 records documenting the proceedings before the 

14 Board. 

15 (3) CENTRALIZED PROCESS.—Proceedings be16 fore the Board shall— 

17 (A) be conducted at the offices of the 

18 Board without the requirement of in-person ap19 pearances by parties or others; 

20 (B) take place by means of written submis21 sions, hearings, and conferences carried out 

22 through internet-based applications and other 

23 telecommunications facilities, except that, in 

24 cases in which physical or other nontestimonial 

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1 nished to the Board through available tele2 communications facilities, the Board may make 

3 alternative arrangements for the submission of 

4 such evidence that do not prejudice any party 

5 or interested owner; and 

6 (C) be conducted and concluded in an ex7 peditious manner without causing undue preju8 dice to any party or interested owner. 

9 (4) REPRESENTATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—A party or interested 

11 owner involved in a proceeding before the Board 

12 may be, but is not required to be, represented 

13 by— 

14 (i) an attorney; or 

15 (ii) a law student who is qualified 

16 under applicable law governing representa17 tion by law students of parties in legal pro18 ceedings and who provides such represen19 tation on a pro bono basis. 

20 (B) REPRESENTATION OF VICTIMS.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—A petition involving 

22 a victim under the age of 16 at the time 

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1 tion, or a person described in subpara2 graph (A). 

3 (ii) NO REQUIREMENT FOR QUALI4 FIED ORGANIZATIONS TO HAVE CONTACT

5 WITH, OR KNOWLEDGE OF, VICTIM.—A 

6 qualified organization may submit a notifi7 cation to a provider or file a petition on be8 half of a victim without regard to whether 

9 the qualified organization has contact with 

10 the victim or knows the identity, location, 

11 or contact information of the victim. 

12 (g) PROCEDURES TO CONTEST A FAILURE TO RE13 MOVE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL OR A NOTIFICA14 TION REPORTING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL.— 

15 (1) PROCEDURE TO CONTEST A FAILURE TO

16 REMOVE.— 

17 (A) COMPLAINANT PETITION.—A com18 plainant may file a petition to the Board claim19 ing that, as applicable— 

20 (i) the complainant submitted a com21 plete notification to a provider concerning 

22 alleged child sexual abuse material, and 

23 that— 

24 (I) the provider— 


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1 (aa) did not remove the al2 leged child sexual abuse material 

3 within the timeframe required 

4 under subsection (c)(1)(A)(i); or 

5 (bb) incorrectly claimed 

6 that— 

7 (AA) the alleged child 

8 sexual abuse material at 

9 issue could not be located or 

10 removed through reasonable 

11 means; 

12 (BB) the notification 

13 was incomplete; or 

14 (CC) the notification 

15 was duplicative under sub16 section (c)(2)(C)(i); and 

17 (II) did not file a timely petition 

18 to contest the notification with the 

19 Board under paragraph (2); or 

20 (ii) a provider is hosting alleged child 

21 sexual abuse material, does not have a des22 ignated reporting system, and the com23 plainant was unable to serve a notification 

24 on the provider under this subsection de25 spite reasonable efforts. 


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1 (B) ADDITIONAL CLAIM.—As applicable, a 

2 petition filed under subparagraph (A) may also 

3 claim that the alleged child sexual abuse mate4 rial at issue in the petition involves recidivist 

5 hosting. 

6 (C) TIMEFRAME.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—A petition under 

8 this paragraph shall be considered timely if 

9 it is filed within 30 days of the applicable 

10 start date, as defined under clause (ii). 

11 (ii) APPLICABLE START DATE.—For 

12 purposes of clause (i), the term ‘‘applicable 

13 start date’’ means— 

14 (I) in the case of a petition under 

15 subparagraph (A)(i) claiming that the 

16 alleged child sexual abuse material 

17 was not removed or that the provider 

18 made an incorrect claim relating to 

19 the alleged child sexual abuse material 

20 or notification, the day that the pro21 vider’s option to file a petition has ex22 pired under paragraph (2)(B); and 

23 (II) in the case of a petition 

24 under subparagraph (A)(ii) related to 

25 a notification that could not be 


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1 served, the last day of the 2-week pe2 riod that begins on the day on which 

3 the complainant first attempted to 

4 serve a notification on the provider in5 volved. 

6 (D) IDENTIFICATION OF VICTIM.—Any pe7 tition filed to the Board by the victim or an au8 thorized representative of the victim shall in9 clude the victim’s legal name. A petition filed to 

10 the Board by a qualified organization may, but 

11 is not required to, include the victim’s legal 

12 name. Any petition containing the victim’s legal 

13 name shall be filed under seal. The victim’s 

14 legal name shall be redacted from any docu15 ments served on the provider and interested 

16 owner or made publicly available. 

17 (E) FAILURE TO REMOVE CHILD SEXUAL

18 ABUSE MATERIAL IN TIMELY MANNER.—A com19 plainant may file a petition under subparagraph 

20 (A)(i) claiming that alleged child sexual abuse 

21 material was not removed even if the alleged 

22 child sexual abuse material was removed prior 

23 to the petition being filed, so long as the peti24 tion claims that the alleged child sexual abuse 


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1 material was not removed within the timeframe 

2 specified in subsection (c)(1). 

3 (2) PROCEDURE TO CONTEST A NOTIFICA4 TION.— 

5 (A) PROVIDER PETITION.—If a provider 

6 receives a complete notification as described in 

7 subsection (c)(2) through its designated report8 ing system or in accordance with subsection 

9 (c)(2)(F)(i), the provider may file a petition to 

10 the Board claiming that the provider has a 

11 good faith belief that, as applicable— 

12 (i) the visual depiction that is the sub13 ject of the notification does not constitute 

14 child sexual abuse material; 

15 (ii) the notification is frivolous or was 

16 submitted with an intent to harass the pro17 vider or any person; 

18 (iii) the alleged child sexual abuse ma19 terial cannot reasonably be located by the 

20 provider; 

21 (iv) for reasons beyond the control of 

22 the provider, the provider cannot remove 

23 the alleged child sexual abuse material 

24 using reasonable means; or 


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1 (v) the notification was duplicative 

2 under subsection (c)(2)(C)(i). 

3 (B) TIMEFRAME.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clauses 

5 (ii) and (iii), a petition contesting a notifi6 cation under this paragraph shall be con7 sidered timely if it is filed by a provider 

8 not later than 14 days after the day on 

9 which the provider receives the notification 

10 or the notification is made complete under 

11 subsection (c)(2)(D)(i). 

12 (ii) NO DESIGNATED REPORTING SYS13 TEM.—Subject to clause (iii), if a provider 

14 does not have a designated reporting sys15 tem, a petition contesting a notification 

16 under this paragraph shall be considered 

17 timely if it is filed by a provider not later 

18 than 7 days after the day on which the 

19 provider receives the notification or the no20 tification is made complete under sub21 section (c)(2)(D)(i). 

22 (iii) SMALL PROVIDERS.—In the case 

23 of a small provider, each of the timeframes 

24 applicable under clauses (i) and (ii) shall 

25 be increased by 48 hours. 


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1 (3) COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEEDING.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—In order to commence 

3 a proceeding under this section, a petitioning 

4 party shall, subject to such additional require5 ments as may be prescribed in regulations es6 tablished by the Commission, file a petition 

7 with the Board, that includes a statement of 

8 claims and material facts in support of each 

9 claim in the petition. A petition may set forth 

10 more than one claim. A petition shall also in11 clude information establishing that it has been 

12 filed within the applicable timeframe. 

13 (B) REVIEW OF PETITIONS BY CHILD ON14 LINE PROTECTION ATTORNEYS.—Child Online 

15 Protection Attorneys may review petitions to 

16 assess whether they are complete. The Board 

17 may permit a petitioning party to refile a defec18 tive petition. The Attorney may assist the peti19 tioning party in making any corrections. 

20 (C) DISMISSAL.—The Board may dismiss, 

21 with or without prejudice, any petition that fails 

22 to comply with subparagraph (A). 

23 (4) SERVICE OF PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR

24 PETITIONS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of peti2 tions under paragraphs (1) and (2), the peti3 tioning party shall, at or before the time of fil4 ing a petition, serve a copy on the other party. 

5 A corporation, partnership, or unincorporated 

6 association that is subject to suit in courts of 

7 general jurisdiction under a common name shall 

8 be served by delivering a copy of the petition to 

9 its service agent, if one has been so designated. 

10 (B) MANNER OF SERVICE.— 

11 (i) SERVICE BY NONDIGITAL

12 MEANS.—Service by nondigital means may 

13 be any of the following: 

14 (I) Personal, including delivery to 

15 a responsible person at the office of 

16 counsel. 

17 (II) By priority mail. 

18 (III) By third-party commercial 

19 carrier for delivery within 3 days. 

20 (ii) SERVICE BY DIGITAL MEANS.— 

21 Service of a paper may be made by sending 

22 it by any digital means, including through 

23 a provider’s designated reporting system. 

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1 cial carrier is complete 3 days after the 

2 mailing or delivery to the carrier. Service 

3 by digital means is complete on filing or 

4 sending, unless the party making service is 

5 notified that the paper was not received by 

6 the party served. 

7 (C) PROOF OF SERVICE.—A petition filed 

8 under paragraph (1) or (2) shall contain— 

9 (i) an acknowledgment of service by 

10 the person served; 

11 (ii) proof of service consisting of a 

12 statement by the person who made service 

13 certifying— 

14 (I) the date and manner of serv15 ice; 

16 (II) the names of the persons 

17 served; and 

18 (III) their mail or electronic ad19 dresses, facsimile numbers, or the ad20 dresses of the places of delivery, as 

21 appropriate for the manner of service; 

22 or 

23 (iii) a statement indicating that serv24 ice could not reasonably be completed. 


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1 (D) ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS.—Except 

2 as otherwise provided in this subsection, all par3 ties to a petition shall bear their own attorney 

4 fees and costs. 

5 (5) SERVICE OF OTHER DOCUMENTS.—Docu6 ments submitted or relied upon in a proceeding, 

7 other than the petition, shall be served in accordance 

8 with regulations established by the Commission. 

9 (6) NOTIFICATION OF RIGHT TO OPT OUT.—In 

10 order to effectuate service on a responding party, 

11 the petition shall notify the responding party of their 

12 right to opt out of the proceeding before the Board, 

13 and the consequences of opting out and not opting 

14 out, including a prominent statement that by not 

15 opting out the respondent— 

16 (A) loses the opportunity to have the dis17 pute decided by a court created under article 

18 III of the Constitution of the United States; 

19 and 

20 (B) waives the right to a jury trial regard21 ing the dispute. 

22 (7) INITIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

23 (A) CONFERENCE.—Within 1 week of com24 pletion of service of a petition under paragraph 

25 (4), 1 or more Officers of the Board shall hold 


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1 a conference to address the matters described 

2 in subparagraphs (B) and (C). 

3 (B) OPT-OUT PROCEDURE.—At the con4 ference, an Officer of the Board shall explain 

5 that the responding party has a right to opt out 

6 of the proceeding before the Board, and de7 scribe the consequences of opting out and not 

8 opting out as described in paragraph (6). A re9 sponding party shall have a period of 30 days, 

10 beginning on the date of the conference, in 

11 which to provide written notice of such choice 

12 to the petitioning party and the Board. If the 

13 responding party does not submit an opt-out 

14 notice to the Board within that 30-day period, 

15 the proceeding shall be deemed an active pro16 ceeding and the responding party shall be 

17 bound by the determination in the proceeding. 

18 If the responding party opts out of the pro19 ceeding during that 30-day period, the pro20 ceeding shall be dismissed without prejudice. 

21 (C) DISABLING ACCESS.—At the con22 ference, except for petitions setting forth claims 

23 described in clauses (iii) and (iv) of paragraph 

24 (2)(A), an Officer of the Board shall order the 

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1 cess to the alleged child sexual abuse material 

2 at issue in the petition for the pendency of the 

3 proceeding, including judicial review as provided 

4 in subsection (g)(28), unless the Officer of the 

5 Board finds that— 

6 (i) it is likely that the Board will find 

7 that the petition is frivolous or was filed 

8 with an intent to harass any person; 

9 (ii) there is a probability that dis10 abling public and user access to such al11 leged child sexual abuse material will cause 

12 irreparable harm; 

13 (iii) the balance of equities weighs in 

14 favor of preserving public and user access 

15 to the alleged child sexual abuse material; 

16 and 

17 (iv) disabling public and user access 

18 to the alleged child sexual abuse material 

19 is contrary to the public interest. 

20 (D) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO DISABLE AC21 CESS.— 

22 (i) PROVIDER PETITION.—If the peti23 tion was filed by a provider, and the pro24 vider fails to comply with an order issued 


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1 pursuant to subparagraph (B), the Board 

2 may— 

3 (I) dismiss the petition with prej4 udice; and 

5 (II) refer the matter to the At6 torney General. 

7 (ii) EFFECT OF DISMISSAL.—If a pro8 vider’s petition is dismissed under clause 

9 (i)(I), the complainant may bring a peti10 tion under paragraph (1) as if the provider 

11 did not file a petition within the timeframe 

12 specified in paragraph (2)(B). For pur13 poses of paragraph (1)(C)(ii), the applica14 ble start date shall be the date the pro15 vider’s petition was dismissed. 

16 (iii) COMPLAINANT PETITION.—If the 

17 petition was filed by a complainant, and 

18 the provider fails to comply with an order 

19 issued pursuant to subparagraph (B), the 

20 Board— 

21 (I) shall— 

22 (aa) expedite resolution of 

23 the petition; and 

24 (bb) refer the matter to the 

25 Attorney General; and 


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1 (II) may apply an adverse infer2 ence with respect to disputed facts 

3 against such provider. 

4 (8) SCHEDULING.—Upon receipt of a complete 

5 petition and at the conclusion of the opt out proce6 dure described in paragraph (7), the Board shall 

7 issue a schedule for the future conduct of the pro8 ceeding. A schedule issued by the Board may be 

9 amended by the Board in the interests of justice. 

10 (9) CONFERENCES.—One or more Officers of 

11 the Board may hold a conference to address case 

12 management or discovery issues in a proceeding, 

13 which shall be noted upon the record of the pro14 ceeding and may be recorded or transcribed. 

15 (10) PARTY SUBMISSIONS.—A proceeding of the 

16 Board may not include any formal motion practice, 

17 except that, subject to applicable regulations and 

18 procedures of the Board— 

19 (A) the parties to the proceeding and an 

20 interested owner may make requests to the 

21 Board to address case management and dis22 covery matters, and submit responses thereto; 

23 and 

24 (B) the Board may request or permit par25 ties and interested owners to make submissions 


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1 addressing relevant questions of fact or law, or 

2 other matters, including matters raised sua 

3 sponte by the Officers of the Board, and offer 

4 responses thereto. 

5 (11) DISCOVERY.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Discovery in a pro7 ceeding shall be limited to the production of rel8 evant information and documents, written inter9 rogatories, and written requests for admission, 

10 as provided in regulations established by the 

11 Commission, except that— 

12 (i) upon the request of a party, and 

13 for good cause shown, the Board may ap14 prove additional relevant discovery, on a 

15 limited basis, in particular matters, and 

16 may request specific information and docu17 ments from parties in the proceeding, con18 sistent with the interests of justice; 

19 (ii) upon the request of a party or in20 terested owner, and for good cause shown, 

21 the Board may issue a protective order to 

22 limit the disclosure of documents or testi23 mony that contain confidential informa24 tion; 


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1 (iii) after providing notice and an op2 portunity to respond, and upon good cause 

3 shown, the Board may apply an adverse in4 ference with respect to disputed facts 

5 against a party or interested owner who 

6 has failed to timely provide discovery mate7 rials in response to a proper request for 

8 materials that could be relevant to such 

9 facts; and 

10 (iv) an interested owner shall only 

11 produce or receive discovery to the extent 

12 it relates to whether the visual depiction at 

13 issue constitutes child sexual abuse mate14 rial. 

15 (B) PRIVACY.—Any alleged child sexual 

16 abuse material received by the Board or the 

17 Commission as part of a proceeding shall be 

18 filed under seal and shall remain in the care, 

19 custody, and control of the Board or the Com20 mission. For purposes of discovery, the Board 

21 or Commission shall make the alleged child sex22 ual abuse material reasonably available to the 

23 parties and interested owner but shall not pro24 vide copies. The privacy protections described in 

25 section 3509(d) of title 18, United States Code, 


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1 shall apply to the Board, Commission, provider, 

2 complainant, and interested owner. 

3 (12) RESPONSES.—The responding party may 

4 refute any of the claims or factual assertions made 

5 by the petitioning party, and may also claim that the 

6 petition was not filed in the applicable timeframe or 

7 is barred under subsection (h). If a complainant is 

8 the petitioning party, a provider may additionally 

9 claim in response that the notification was incom10 plete and could not be made complete under sub11 section (c)(2)(D)(i). The petitioning party may re12 fute any responses submitted by the responding 

13 party. 

14 (13) INTERESTED OWNER.—An individual noti15 fied under paragraph (19)(C)(ii) may, within 14 

16 days of being so notified, file a motion to join the 

17 proceeding for the limited purpose of claiming that 

18 the visual depiction at issue does not constitute child 

19 sexual abuse material. The Board shall serve the 

20 motion on both parties. Such motion shall include a 

21 factual basis and a signed statement, submitted 

22 under penalty of perjury, indicating that the indi23 vidual produced or created the visual depiction at 

24 issue. The Board shall dismiss any motion that does 

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1 mitted by an individual who did not produce or cre2 ate the visual depiction at issue. If the motion is 

3 granted, the interested owner may also claim that 

4 the notification and petition were filed with an in5 tent to harass the interested owner. Any party may 

6 refute the claims and factual assertions made by the 

7 interested owner. 

8 (14) EVIDENCE.—The Board may consider the 

9 following types of evidence in a proceeding, and such 

10 evidence may be admitted without application of for11 mal rules of evidence: 

12 (A) Documentary and other nontestimonial 

13 evidence that is relevant to the petitions or re14 sponses in the proceeding. 

15 (B) Testimonial evidence, submitted under 

16 penalty of perjury in written form or in accord17 ance with paragraph (15), limited to statements 

18 of the parties and nonexpert witnesses, that is 

19 relevant to the petitions or responses in a pro20 ceeding, except that, in exceptional cases, expert 

21 witness testimony or other types of testimony 

22 may be permitted by the Board for good cause 

23 shown. 

24 (15) HEARINGS.—Unless waived by all parties, 

25 the Board shall conduct a hearing to receive oral 


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1 presentations on issues of fact or law from parties 

2 and witnesses to a proceeding, including oral testi3 mony, subject to the following: 

4 (A) Any such hearing shall be attended by 

5 not fewer than two of the Officers of the Board. 

6 (B) The hearing shall be noted upon the 

7 record of the proceeding and, subject to sub8 paragraph (C), may be recorded or transcribed 

9 as deemed necessary by the Board. 

10 (C) A recording or transcript of the hear11 ing shall be made available to any Officer of the 

12 Board who is not in attendance. 

13 (16) VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL.— 

14 (A) BY PETITIONING PARTY.—Upon the 

15 written request of a petitioning party, the 

16 Board shall dismiss the petition, with or with17 out prejudice. 

18 (B) BY RESPONDING PARTY OR INTER19 ESTED OWNER.—Upon written request of a re20 sponding party or interested owner, the Board 

21 shall dismiss any responses to the petition, and 

22 shall consider all claims and factual assertions 

23 in the petition to be true. 

24 (17) FACTUAL FINDINGS.—Subject to para25 graph (11)(A)(iii), the Board shall make factual 


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1 findings based upon a preponderance of the evi2 dence. 

3 (18) DETERMINATIONS.— 

4 (A) NATURE AND CONTENTS.—A deter5 mination rendered by the Board in a proceeding 

6 shall— 

7 (i) be reached by a majority of the 

8 Board; 

9 (ii) be in writing, and include an ex10 planation of the factual and legal basis of 

11 the determination; and 

12 (iii) include a clear statement of all 

13 fines, costs, and other relief awarded. 

14 (B) DISSENT.—An Officer of the Board 

15 who dissents from a decision contained in a de16 termination under subparagraph (A) may ap17 pend a statement setting forth the grounds for 

18 that dissent. 

19 (19) PUBLICATION AND DISCLOSURE.— 

20 (A) PUBLICATION.—Each final determina21 tion of the Board shall be made available on a 

22 publicly accessible website, except that the final 

23 determination shall be redacted to protect con24 fidential information that is the subject of a 

25 protective order under paragraph (11)(A)(ii) or 


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1 information protected pursuant to paragraph 

2 (11)(B) and any other information protected 

3 from public disclosure under the Federal Trade 

4 Commission Act or any other applicable provi5 sion of law. 

6 (B) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—All 

7 information relating to proceedings of the 

8 Board under this section is exempt from disclo9 sure to the public under section 552(b)(3) of 

10 title 5, except for determinations, records, and 

11 information published under subparagraph (A). 

12 Any information that is disclosed under this 

13 subparagraph shall have redacted any informa14 tion that is the subject of a protective order 

15 under paragraph (11)(A)(ii) or protected pursu16 ant to paragraph (11)(B). 

17 (C) EFFECT OF PETITION ON NON-DISCLO18 SURE PERIOD.— 

19 (i) Submission of a petition extends 

20 the non-disclosure period under subsection 

21 (c)(2)(I) for the pendency of the pro22 ceeding. The provider may submit an ob23 jection to the Board that nondisclosure is 

24 contrary to the interests of justice. The 

25 complainant may, but is not required to, 


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1 respond to the objection. The Board should 

2 sustain the objection unless there is reason 

3 to believe that the circumstances in section 

4 3486(a)(6)(B) of title 18, United States 

5 Code, exist and outweigh the interests of 

6 justice. 

7 (ii) If the Board sustains an objection 

8 to the nondisclosure period, the provider or 

9 the Board may notify the apparent owner 

10 of the visual depiction at issue about the 

11 proceeding, and include instructions on 

12 how the owner may move to join the pro13 ceeding under paragraph (13). 

14 (iii) If applicable, the nondisclosure 

15 period expires 120 days after the Board’s 

16 determination becomes final, except it shall 

17 expire immediately upon the Board’s deter18 mination becoming final if the Board finds 

19 that the visual depiction at issue is not 

20 child sexual abuse material. 

21 (iv) The interested owner of a visual 

22 depiction at issue may not bring any legal 

23 action against any party related to the al24 leged child sexual abuse material until the 

25 Board’s determination is final. Once the 


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1 determination is final, the interested owner 

2 of the visual depiction may pursue any 

3 legal relief available under the law, subject 

4 to subsections (h), (k), and (l). 

5 (20) RESPONDING PARTY’S DEFAULT.—If the 

6 Board finds that service of the petition on the re7 sponding party could not reasonably be completed, 

8 or the responding party has failed to appear or has 

9 ceased participating in a proceeding, as dem10 onstrated by the responding party’s failure, without 

11 justifiable cause, to meet one or more deadlines or 

12 requirements set forth in the schedule adopted by 

13 the Board, the Board may enter a default deter14 mination, including the dismissal of any responses 

15 asserted by the responding party, as follows and in 

16 accordance with such other requirements as the 

17 Commission may establish by regulation: 

18 (A) The Board shall require the petitioning 

19 party to submit relevant evidence and other in20 formation in support of the petitioning party’s 

21 claims and, upon review of such evidence and 

22 any other requested submissions from the peti23 tioning party, shall determine whether the ma24 terials so submitted are sufficient to support a 

25 finding in favor of the petitioning party under 


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1 applicable law and, if so, the appropriate relief 

2 and damages, if any, to be awarded. 

3 (B) If the Board makes an affirmative de4 termination under subparagraph (A), the Board 

5 shall prepare a proposed default determination, 

6 and shall provide written notice to the respond7 ing party at all addresses, including electronic 

8 mail addresses, reflected in the records of the 

9 proceeding before the Board, of the pendency of 

10 a default determination by the Board and of 

11 the legal significance of such determination. 

12 Such notice shall be accompanied by the pro13 posed default determination and shall provide 

14 that the responding party has a period of 30 

15 days, beginning on the date of the notice, to 

16 submit any evidence or other information in op17 position to the proposed default determination. 

18 (C) If the responding party responds to the 

19 notice provided under subparagraph (B) within 

20 the 30-day period provided in such subpara21 graph, the Board shall consider responding par22 ty’s submissions and, after allowing the peti23 tioning party to address such submissions, 

24 maintain, or amend its proposed determination 


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1 as appropriate, and the resulting determination 

2 shall not be a default determination. 

3 (D) If the respondent fails to respond to 

4 the notice provided under subparagraph (B), 

5 the Board shall proceed to issue the default de6 termination. Thereafter, the respondent may 

7 only challenge such determination to the extent 

8 permitted under paragraph (28). 

9 (21) PETITIONING PARTY OR INTERESTED

10 OWNER’S FAILURE TO PROCEED.—If a petitioning 

11 party or interested owner who has joined the pro12 ceeding fails to proceed, as demonstrated by the fail13 ure, without justifiable cause, to meet one or more 

14 deadlines or requirements set forth in the schedule 

15 adopted by the Board, the Board may, upon pro16 viding written notice to the petitioning party or in17 terested owner and a period of 30 days, beginning 

18 on the date of the notice, to respond to the notice, 

19 and after considering any such response, issue a de20 termination dismissing the claims made by the peti21 tioning party or interested owner. The Board may 

22 order the petitioning party to pay attorney fees and 

23 costs under paragraph (26)(B), if appropriate. 

24 Thereafter, the petitioning party may only challenge 


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1 such determination to the extent permitted under 

2 paragraph (28). 

3 (22) REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION.—A 

4 party or interested owner may, within 30 days after 

5 the date on which the Board issues a determination 

6 under paragraph (18), submit to the Board a writ7 ten request for reconsideration of, or an amendment 

8 to, such determination if the party or interested 

9 owner identifies a clear error of law or fact material 

10 to the outcome, or a technical mistake. After pro11 viding the other parties an opportunity to address 

12 such request, the Board shall either deny the request 

13 or issue an amended determination. 

14 (23) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.—If the Board 

15 denies a party or interested owner a request for re16 consideration of a determination under paragraph 

17 (22), the party or interested owner may, within 30 

18 days after the date of such denial, request review of 

19 the determination by the Commission in accordance 

20 with regulations established by the Commission. 

21 After providing the other party or interested owner 

22 an opportunity to address the request, the Commis23 sion shall either deny the request for review, or re24 mand the proceeding to the Board for reconsider25 ation of issues specified in the remand and for 


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1 issuance of an amended determination. Such amend2 ed determination shall not be subject to further con3 sideration or review, other than under paragraph 

4 (28). 

5 (24) FAVORABLE RULING ON COMPLAINANT PE6 TITION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Board grants a 

8 complainant’s petition filed under this section, 

9 notwithstanding any other law, the Board 

10 shall— 

11 (i) order the provider to immediately 

12 remove the child sexual abuse material, 

13 and to permanently delete all copies of the 

14 child sexual abuse material known to and 

15 under the control of the provider unless 

16 the Board orders the provider to preserve 

17 the child sexual abuse material; 

18 (ii) impose a fine of $50,000 per item 

19 of child sexual abuse material covered by 

20 the determination, but if the Board finds 

21 that— 

22 (I) the provider removed the 

23 child sexual abuse material after the 

24 period set forth in subsection 

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1 ant filed a petition, such fine shall be 

2 $25,000; 

3 (II) the provider has engaged in 

4 recidivist hosting for the first time 

5 with respect to the child sexual abuse 

6 material at issue, such fine shall be 

7 $100,000 per item of child sexual 

8 abuse material; or 

9 (III) the provider has engaged in 

10 recidivist hosting of the child sexual 

11 abuse material at issue 2 or more 

12 times, such fine shall be $200,000 per 

13 item of child sexual abuse material; 

14 (iii) order the provider to pay reason15 able costs to the complainant; and 

16 (iv) refer any matters involving inten17 tional or willful conduct by a provider with 

18 respect to child sexual abuse material, or 

19 recidivist hosting, to the Attorney General 

20 for prosecution under any applicable laws. 

21 (B) PROVIDER PAYMENT OF FINE AND

22 COSTS.—Notwithstanding any other law, the 

23 Board shall direct a provider to promptly pay 

24 fines and costs imposed under subparagraph 

25 (A) as follows: 


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1 (i) If the petition was filed by a vic2 tim, such fine and costs shall be paid to 

3 the victim. 

4 (ii) If the petition was filed by an au5 thorized representative of a victim— 

6 (I) 30 percent of such fine shall 

7 be paid to the authorized representa8 tive and 70 percent of such fine paid 

9 to the victim; and 

10 (II) costs shall be paid to the au11 thorized representative. 

12 (iii) If the petition was filed by a 

13 qualified organization— 

14 (I) the fine shall be paid to the 

15 Child Pornography Victims Reserve as 

16 provided in section 2259B of title 18, 

17 United States Code; and 

18 (II) costs shall be paid to the 

19 qualified organization. 

20 (25) EFFECT OF DENIAL OF PROVIDER PETI21 TION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Board denies a 

23 provider’s petition to contest a notification filed 

24 under paragraph (2), it shall order the provider 

25 to immediately remove the child sexual abuse 


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1 material, and to permanently delete all copies of 

2 the child sexual abuse material known to and 

3 under the control of the provider unless the 

4 Board orders the provider to preserve the child 

5 sexual abuse material. 

6 (B) REFERRAL FOR FAILURE TO REMOVE

7 MATERIAL.—If a provider does not remove and, 

8 if applicable, permanently delete child sexual 

9 abuse material within 48 hours of the Board 

10 issuing a determination under subparagraph 

11 (A), or not later than 2 business days of the 

12 Board issuing a determination under subpara13 graph (A) concerning a small provider, the 

14 Board shall refer the matter to the Attorney 

15 General for prosecution under any applicable 

16 laws. 

17 (C) COSTS FOR FRIVOLOUS PETITION.—If 

18 the Board finds that a provider filed a petition 

19 under paragraph (2) for a harassing or im20 proper purpose or without reasonable basis in 

21 law or fact, the Board shall order the provider 

22 to pay the reasonable costs of the complainant. 

23 (26) EFFECT OF DENIAL OF COMPLAINANT’S

24 PETITION OR FAVORABLE RULING ON PROVIDER’S

25 PETITION.— 


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1 (A) RESTORATION.—If the Board grants a 

2 provider’s petition filed under paragraph (2) or 

3 if the Board denies a petition filed by the com4 plainant under paragraph (1), the provider may 

5 restore access to any visual depiction that was 

6 at issue in the proceeding. 

7 (B) COSTS FOR INCOMPLETE OR FRIVO8 LOUS NOTIFICATION AND HARASSMENT.—If, in 

9 granting or denying a petition as described in 

10 subparagraph (A), the Board finds that the no11 tification contested in the petition could not be 

12 made complete under subsection (c)(2)(D), is 

13 frivolous, or is duplicative under subsection 

14 (c)(2)(C)(i), the Board may order the complain15 ant to pay costs to the provider and any inter16 ested owner, which shall not exceed a total of 

17 $10,000, or, if the Board finds that the com18 plainant filed the notification with an intent to 

19 harass the provider or any person, a total of 

20 $15,000. 

21 (27) CIVIL ACTION; OTHER RELIEF.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any provider 

23 or complainant fails to comply with a final de24 termination of the Board issued under para25 graph (18), the Department of Justice may 


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1 commence a civil action in a district court of 

2 the United States to enforce compliance with 

3 such determination. 

4 (B) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this 

5 section shall be construed to limit the authority 

6 of the Commission or Department of Justice 

7 under any other provision of law. 

8 (28) CHALLENGES TO THE DETERMINATION.— 

9 (A) BASES FOR CHALLENGE.—Not later 

10 than 45 days after the date on which the Board 

11 issues a determination or amended determina12 tion in a proceeding, or not later than 45 days 

13 after the date on which the Board completes 

14 any process of reconsideration or the Commis15 sion completes a review of the determination, 

16 whichever occurs later, a party may seek an 

17 order from a district court, located where the 

18 provider or complainant conducts business or 

19 resides, vacating, modifying, or correcting the 

20 determination of the Board in the following 

21 cases: 

22 (i) If the determination was issued as 

23 a result of fraud, corruption, misrepresen24 tation, or other misconduct. 


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1 (ii) If the Board exceeded its author2 ity or failed to render a determination con3 cerning the subject matter at issue. 

4 (iii) In the case of a default deter5 mination or determination based on a fail6 ure to prosecute, if it is established that 

7 the default or failure was due to excusable 

8 neglect. 

9 (B) PROCEDURE TO CHALLENGE.— 

10 (i) NOTICE OF APPLICATION.—Notice 

11 of the application to challenge a determina12 tion of the Board shall be provided to all 

13 parties to the proceeding before the Board, 

14 in accordance with the procedures applica15 ble to service of a motion in the court 

16 where the application is made. 

17 (ii) STAYING OF PROCEEDINGS.—For 

18 purposes of an application under this para19 graph, any judge who is authorized to 

20 issue an order to stay the proceedings in 

21 an any other action brought in the same 

22 court may issue an order, to be served with 

23 the notice of application, staying pro24 ceedings to enforce the award while the 

25 challenge is pending. 


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1 (29) FINAL DETERMINATION.—A determination 

2 of the Board shall be final on the date that all op3 portunities for a party or interested owner to seek 

4 reconsideration or review of a determination under 

5 paragraph (22) or (23), or for a party to challenge 

6 the determination under paragraph (28), have ex7 pired or are exhausted. 

8 (h) EFFECT OF PROCEEDING.— 

9 (1) SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS.—The issuance 

10 of a final determination by the Board shall preclude 

11 the filing by any party of any subsequent petition 

12 that is based on the notification at issue in the final 

13 determination. This paragraph shall not limit the 

14 ability of any party to file a subsequent petition 

15 based on any other notification. 

16 (2) DETERMINATION.—Except as provided in 

17 paragraph (1), the issuance of a final determination 

18 by the Board, including a default determination or 

19 determination based on a failure to prosecute, shall 

20 preclude relitigation of any allegation, factual claim, 

21 or response in any subsequent legal action or pro22 ceeding before any court, tribunal, or the Board, and 

23 may be relied upon for such purpose in a future ac24 tion or proceeding arising from the same specific ac25 tivity, subject to the following: 


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1 (A) No party or interested owner may re2 litigate any allegation, factual claim, or re3 sponse that was properly asserted and consid4 ered by the Board in any subsequent proceeding 

5 before the Board involving the same parties or 

6 interested owner and the same child sexual 

7 abuse material. 

8 (B) A finding by the Board that a visual 

9 depiction constitutes child sexual abuse mate10 rial— 

11 (i) may not be relitigated in any civil 

12 proceeding brought by an interested owner; 

13 and 

14 (ii) may not be relied upon, and shall 

15 not have preclusive effect, in any other ac16 tion or proceeding involving any party be17 fore any court or tribunal other than the 

18 Board. 

19 (C) A determination by the Board shall 

20 not preclude litigation or relitigation as between 

21 the same or different parties before any court 

22 or tribunal other than the Board of the same 

23 or similar issues of fact or law in connection 

24 with allegations or responses not asserted or 

25 not finally determined by the Board. 


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1 (D) Except to the extent permitted under 

2 this subsection, any final determination of the 

3 Board may not be cited or relied upon as legal 

4 precedent in any other action or proceeding be5 fore any court or tribunal other than the 

6 Board. 

7 (3) OTHER MATERIALS IN PROCEEDING.—A 

8 submission or statement of a party, interested 

9 owner, or witness made in connection with a pro10 ceeding before the Board, including a proceeding 

11 that is dismissed, may not serve as the basis of any 

12 action or proceeding before any court or tribunal ex13 cept for any legal action related to perjury or for 

14 conduct described in subsection (k)(2). A statement 

15 of a party, interested owner, or witness may be re16 ceived as evidence, in accordance with applicable 

17 rules, in any subsequent legal action or proceeding 

18 before any court, tribunal, or the Board. 

19 (4) FAILURE TO ASSERT RESPONSE.—Except 

20 as provided in paragraph (1), the failure or inability 

21 to assert any allegation, factual claim, or response in 

22 a proceeding before the Board shall not preclude the 

23 assertion of that response in any subsequent legal 

24 action or proceeding before any court, tribunal, or 

25 the Board. 


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1 (i) ADMINISTRATION.—The Commission may issue 

2 regulations in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, to implement this section. 

4 (j) STUDY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

6 the date on which Child Online Protection Board 

7 issues the first determination under this section, the 

8 Commission shall conduct, and report to Congress 

9 on, a study that addresses the following: 

10 (A) The use and efficacy of the Child On11 line Protection Board in expediting the removal 

12 of child sexual abuse material and resolving dis13 putes concerning alleged child sexual abuse ma14 terial, including the number of proceedings the 

15 Child Online Protection Board could reasonably 

16 administer with current allocated resources. 

17 (B) Whether adjustments to the authority 

18 of the Child Online Protection Board are nec19 essary or advisable, including with respect to 

20 permissible claims, responses, fines, costs, and 

21 joinder by interested parties. 

22 (C) Whether the Child Online Protection 

23 Board should be permitted to expire, be ex24 tended, or be expanded. 


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1 (D) Such other matters as the Commission 

2 believes may be pertinent concerning the Child 

3 Online Protection Board. 

4 (2) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study 

5 and completing the report required under paragraph 

6 (1), the Commission shall, to the extent feasible, 

7 consult with complainants, victims, and providers to 

8 include their views on the matters addressed in the 

9 study and report. 

10 (k) LIMITED LIABILITY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), a civil claim or criminal charge against 

13 the Board, a provider, a complainant, interested 

14 owner, or representative under subsection (f)(4), for 

15 distributing, receiving, accessing, or possessing child 

16 sexual abuse material for the sole and exclusive pur17 pose of complying with the requirements of this sec18 tion, or for the sole and exclusive purpose of seeking 

19 or providing legal advice in order to comply with this 

20 section, may not be brought in any Federal or State 

21 court. 

22 (2) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER MIS23 CONDUCT.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a claim 

24 against the Board, a provider, a complainant, interVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00133 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7949.IH H7949

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1 ested owner, or representative under subsection 

2 (f)(4)— 

3 (A) for any conduct unrelated to compli4 ance with the requirements of this section; 

5 (B) if the Board, provider, complainant, 

6 interested owner, or representative under sub7 section (f)(4) (as applicable)— 

8 (i) engaged in intentional misconduct; 

9 or 

10 (ii) acted, or failed to act— 

11 (I) with actual malice; or 

12 (II) with reckless disregard to a 

13 substantial risk of causing physical in14 jury without legal justification; or 

15 (C) in the case of a claim against a com16 plainant, if the complainant falsely claims to be 

17 a victim, an authorized representative of a vic18 tim, or a qualified organization. 

19 (3) MINIMIZING ACCESS.—The Board, a pro20 vider, a complainant, an interested owner, or a rep21 resentative under subsection (f)(4) shall— 

22 (A) minimize the number of individuals 

23 that are provided access to any alleged, con24 tested, or actual child sexual abuse material 

25 under this section; 


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1 (B) ensure that any alleged, contested, or 

2 actual child sexual abuse material is trans3 mitted and stored in a secure manner and is 

4 not distributed to or accessed by any individual 

5 other than as needed to implement this section; 

6 and 

7 (C) ensure that all copies of any child sex8 ual abuse material are permanently deleted 

9 upon a request from the Board, Commission, or 

10 the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

11 (l) PROVIDER IMMUNITY FROM CLAIMS BASED ON

12 REMOVAL OF VISUAL DEPICTION.—A provider shall not 

13 be liable to any person for any claim based on the pro14 vider’s good faith removal of any visual depiction that is 

15 alleged to be child sexual abuse material pursuant to a 

16 notification under this section, regardless of whether the 

17 visual depiction involved is found to be child sexual abuse 

18 material by the Board. A provider shall not be liable to 

19 any person for any claim based on the provider’s good 

20 faith discretionary removal of any alleged related 

21 exploitive visual depictions pursuant to a notification 

22 under this section. 

23 (m) CONTINUED APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL, 

24 STATE, AND TRIBAL LAW.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not be 

2 construed to impair, supersede, or limit a provision 

3 of Federal, State, or Tribal law. 

4 (2) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section 

5 shall prohibit a State or Tribal government from 

6 adopting and enforcing a provision of law governing 

7 child sex abuse material that is at least as protective 

8 of the rights of a victim as this section. 

9 (n) DISCOVERY.—Nothing in this section affects dis10 covery, a subpoena or any other court order, or any other 

11 judicial process otherwise in accordance with Federal or 

12 State law. 

13 (o) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to relieve a provider from any obli15 gation imposed on the provider under section 2258A of 

16 title 18, United States Code. 

17 (p) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated to pay the costs incurred by the Commission under 

19 this section, including the costs of establishing and main20 taining the Board and its facilities, $40,000,000 for each 

21 year during the period that begins with the year in which 

22 this Act is enacted and ends with the year in which certain 

23 subsections of this section expire under subsection (q). 

24 (q) SUNSET.—Except for subsections (a), (h), (k), 

25 (l), (m), (n), (o), and (r), this section shall expire 5 years 


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1 after the date on which the Child Online Protection Board 

2 issues its first determination under this section. 

3 (r) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

5 Child Online Protection Board established under 

6 subsection (d). 

7 (2) CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL.—The 

8 term ‘‘child sexual abuse material’’ has the meaning 

9 provided in section 2256(8) of title 18, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

12 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

13 (4) COMPLAINANT.—The term ‘‘complainant’’ 

14 means— 

15 (A) the victim appearing in the child sex16 ual abuse material; 

17 (B) an authorized representative of the vic18 tim appearing in the child sexual abuse mate19 rial; or 

20 (C) a qualified organization. 

21 (5) DESIGNATED REPORTING SYSTEM.—The 

22 term ‘‘designated reporting system’’ means a digital 

23 means of submitting a notification to a provider 

24 under this subsection that is publicly and promi25 nently available, easily accessible, and easy to use. 


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1 (6) HOST.—The term ‘‘host’’ means to store or 

2 make a visual depiction available or accessible to the 

3 public or any users through digital means or on a 

4 system or network controlled or operated by or for 

5 a provider. 

6 (7) IDENTIFIABLE PERSON.—The term ‘‘identi7 fiable person’’ means a person who is recognizable 

8 as an actual person by the person’s face, likeness, or 

9 other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique 

10 birthmark or other recognizable feature. 

11 (8) INTERESTED OWNER.—The term ‘‘inter12 ested owner’’ means an individual who has joined a 

13 proceeding before the Board under subsection 

14 (g)(13). 

15 (9) PARTY.—The term ‘‘party’’ means the com16 plainant or provider. 

17 (10) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a 

18 provider of an interactive computer service, as that 

19 term is defined in section 230 of the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), and for purposes 

21 of subsections (k) and (l), includes any director, offi22 cer, employee, or agent of such provider. 

23 (11) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—The term 

24 ‘‘qualified organization’’ means an organization de25 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 


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1 Code of 1986 that is exempt from tax under section 

2 501(a) of that Code that works to address child sex3 ual abuse material and to support victims of child 

4 sexual abuse material. 

5 (12) RECIDIVIST HOSTING.—The term ‘‘recidi6 vist hosting’’ means, with respect to a provider, that 

7 the provider removes child sexual abuse material 

8 pursuant to a notification or determination under 

9 this subsection, and then subsequently hosts a visual 

10 depiction that has the same hash value or other 

11 technical identifier as the child sexual abuse material 

12 that had been so removed. 

13 (13) RELATED EXPLOITIVE VISUAL DEPIC14 TION.—The term ‘‘related exploitive visual depic15 tion’’ means a visual depiction of an identifiable per16 son of any age where— 

17 (A) such visual depiction does not con18 stitute child sexual abuse material, but is pub19 lished with child sexual abuse material depict20 ing that person while under 18 years of age; 

21 and 

22 (B) there is a connection between such vis23 ual depiction and the child sexual abuse mate24 rial depicting that person while under 18 years 

25 of age that is readily apparent from— 


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1 (i) the content of such visual depiction 

2 and the child sexual abuse material; or 

3 (ii) the context in which such visual 

4 depiction and the child sexual abuse mate5 rial appear. 

6 (14) SMALL PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘small pro7 vider’’ means a provider that, for the most recent 

8 calendar year, averaged less than 10,000,000 active 

9 users on a monthly basis in the United States. 

10 (15) VICTIM.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘victim’’ 

12 means an individual of any age who is depicted 

13 in child sexual abuse material while under 18 

14 years of age. 

15 (B) ASSUMPTION OF RIGHTS.—In the case 

16 of a victim who is under 18 years of age, in17 competent, incapacitated, or deceased, the legal 

18 guardian of the victim or representative of the 

19 victim’s estate, another family member, or any 

20 other person appointed as suitable by a court, 

21 may assume the victim’s rights to submit a no22 tification or file a petition under this section, 

23 but in no event shall an individual who pro24 duced or conspired to produce the child sexual 


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1 abuse material depicting the victim be named as 

2 such representative or guardian. 

3 (16) VISUAL DEPICTION.—The term ‘‘visual de4 piction’’ has the meaning provided in section 

5 2256(5) of title 18, United States Code. 

6 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

7 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

8 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend9 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti10 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 

11 made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 

12 amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not 

13 be affected. 

Æ 


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