I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8457 
To prevent the distribution of intimate visual depictions without consent. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2024 
Mrs. LUNA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, 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 prevent the distribution of intimate visual depictions 
without consent. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Preventing Rampant Online Technological Exploitation 
and Criminal Trafficking Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘PRO-
TECT Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Severability clause. 
TITLE I—REGULATING THE UPLOADING OF PORNOGRAPHIC 
IMAGES TO ONLINE PLATFORMS 
Sec. 101. Verification obligations of covered platform operators. 
Sec. 102. Removal of images distributed without consent. 
Sec. 103. Obligations of users. 
TITLE II—ENFORCEMENT 
Sec. 201. Civil enforcement. 
Sec. 202. Criminal prohibition on nonconsensual distribution of intimate visual 
depictions. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In the United States, reports of child sexual 
abuse material (referred to in this section as 
‘‘CSAM’’) have grown exponentially in recent years, 
from 3,000 reports in 1998 to more than 1,000,000 
in 2014 and 18,400,000 in 2018. The New York 
Times called it an ‘‘almost unfathomable’’ increase 
in criminal behavior. 
(2) The National Center for Missing and Ex-
ploited Children (referred to in this section as 
‘‘NCMEC’’), which is based in the United States, re-
corded more than 29,300,000 reports of suspected 
CSAM to its CyberTipline in 2021, the highest num-
ber of reports ever received in a single year and a 
35 percent increase from 2020. Those reports in-
cluded 85,000,000 images, videos, and other files of 
suspected CSAM and incident-related content. 
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(3) Recent trends reported by NCMEC include 
increasingly graphic and violent sexual abuse im-
ages, and videos of infants and young children. 
(4) The Daily, a podcast hosted by the New 
York Times, reported in 2019 that CSAM had so 
overwhelmed law enforcement agencies in the United 
States that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for 
example, had prioritized investigating material de-
picting infants and toddlers, not older children. 
(5) The COVID–19 pandemic has resulted in a 
surge in the online distribution of CSAM, which was 
remarkably high even before the pandemic. During 
the pandemic, NCMEC reported a 106-percent in-
crease in the sharing of CSAM globally. The in-
creased number of offenders exchanging CSAM dur-
ing lockdowns has continued to stimulate demand 
for CSAM beyond the lockdowns. 
(6) Project Arachnid is a web platform adminis-
tered by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection 
(referred to in this section as ‘‘C3P’’) that is de-
signed to detect known images of CSAM and issue 
removal notices to electronic service providers when 
possible. C3P has reported, ‘‘It is a common mis-
conception that CSAM and harmful-abusive content 
are relegated solely to the dark web.’’. In fact, 97 
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percent of the illegal media detected by Project 
Arachnid hides in plain sight on the clear web on 
image or file hosting services, forums, content deliv-
ery networks, and both mainstream adult pornog-
raphy sites, such as Pornhub, XVideos, OnlyFans, 
and YouPorn, and fringe adult pornography sites. 
(7) In 2021, NCMEC reported that a majority 
of CSAM reports, more than 29,157,083 out of 
29,397,681, came from electronic service providers. 
(8) An alarming and increasing number of 
adults are being depicted in online pornography 
without their knowledge or consent. These individ-
uals are often victims of sexual abuse, sex traf-
ficking, rape, sexual exploitation, sextortion, and 
forms of image-based sexual abuse such as non-
consensual distribution of sexually explicit material. 
(9) Most pornography websites do not effec-
tively verify the age of the users who upload content 
to their platforms. Nor do these websites make an 
effort to effectively verify the age, consent, or iden-
tity of all individuals who are depicted in the porno-
graphic content. 
(10) Pornography websites attract hundreds of 
millions of visitors daily. The 2 most-visited pornog-
raphy websites in 2023, for example, reported at-
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tracting more than 693,500,000 and 629,500,000 
monthly users, respectively, each exceeding the traf-
fic of Netflix, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or 
LinkedIn. 
(11) Pornography websites profit from the con-
tent uploaded to their platforms, including content 
that depicts or involves rape, child exploitation and 
abuse, and sex trafficking. In 2019, 6 high-level in-
dividuals employed by an online pornographic dis-
tributor were convicted of sex trafficking. Over an 
11-year period, that platform generated more than 
$17,000,000 in revenue. 
(12) Not only are high-ranking officers of por-
nography websites aware of the proliferation of 
CSAM material on their platforms, but they appear 
to knowingly decline to investigate reports of non-
consensual or underage sexually explicit materials on 
the platforms. A 2021 lawsuit revealed that 
Pornhub’s parent company Aylo, at the time known 
as MindGeed USA Incorporated, had a policy to only 
review videos flagged for rape or sexual abuse if the 
video received at least 16 unique reports. If a video 
had 15 or fewer reports, Pornhub refused to inves-
tigate. Internal emails stated that as of May 27, 
2020, Pornhub had a backlog of 706,425 videos of 
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possible rape or child sexual abuse with 15 or fewer 
reports. At the time of the lawsuit, only 1 out of 
Pornhub’s 1,400 total employees was tasked with re-
viewing videos reported for violence or CSAM full- 
time. Pornhub’s chief executive officer called these 
policies ‘‘good and reasonable’’. 
(13) The ongoing exploitation of underage or 
nonconsenting individuals by highly-visited pornog-
raphy websites is evidenced by a recent series of suc-
cessful lawsuits. One case, involving 22 victims of 
sex trafficking and fraud, concluded in a nearly 
$13,000,000 verdict against a pornography content 
producer who coerced women and children into pro-
ducing sexual content. Another 34 women, some of 
whom are victims of child sex trafficking, filed a 
lawsuit against a pornographic website for failing to 
take proper precautions to verify the content 
uploaded to its platform and monetizing the illegal 
content. 
(14) The internet has revolutionized the por-
nography industry, making pornographic content in-
comparably more available, accessible, affordable, 
and anonymous than at any previous time in the his-
tory of the United States. Today, substantial majori-
ties of teenagers have viewed pornography. A United 
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States population-based probability study found that 
84 percent of males and 57 percent of females be-
tween the ages of 14 and 18 have viewed pornog-
raphy, belying the industry’s faux status as so-called 
‘‘adult entertainment’’. Moreover, pornography has 
contributed to the normalization of sexual violence 
among the youth of the United States. Numerous 
studies have demonstrated that viewing pornography 
harms youth, as it contributes to sexually violent at-
titudes and conduct towards children and adults and 
creates unrealistic expectations for intimate relation-
ships. Additionally, research has demonstrated that 
the demand for online pornography has fueled an in-
crease in purchasing sex from prostituted or sex 
trafficked individuals. 
(15) The online pornography industry has re-
mained unchecked and generally immune from regu-
lations. Online creators and distributors of porno-
graphic content should be held to standards that re-
quire informed and thorough consent as well as age- 
verification. Currently, no substantive laws govern 
consent in pornography, which has permitted ramp-
ant abuses to occur. 
(16) Companies should not profit from the sex-
ual exploitation of children and adults. Requiring 
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pornographic websites to verify the age, consent, and 
identity of individuals appearing in pornographic 
content on their platforms would substantially curb 
the rampant exploitation of all children and adults 
online. 
(17) The harm to victims of CSAM and image- 
based sexual abuse is deep and enduring. Every time 
an image or video of their exploitation is shared, 
their abuse is repeated and amplified. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 
(1) COERCED
CONSENT.—The term ‘‘coerced 
consent’’ means purported consent obtained from a 
person— 
(A) through fraud, duress, misrepresenta-
tion, undue influence, or nondisclosure; 
(B) who lacks capacity; or 
(C) though exploiting or leveraging the 
person’s— 
(i) immigration status; 
(ii) pregnancy; 
(iii) disability; 
(iv) addiction; 
(v) juvenile status; or 
(vi) economic circumstances. 
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(2) CONSENT.—The term ‘‘consent’’— 
(A) means an agreement that is informed 
and thorough; and 
(B) does not include coerced consent. 
(3) COVERED PLATFORM.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
platform’’ means an interactive computer serv-
ice that hosts or makes available to the general 
public pornographic images. 
(B) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), the availability of 
pornographic images to a group of subscribers 
shall be considered availability to the general 
public if any member of the general public (sub-
ject to reasonable limitations) can obtain a sub-
scription. 
(4) 
COVERED
PLATFORM
OPERATOR.—The 
term ‘‘covered platform operator’’ means a provider 
of a covered platform. 
(5) INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICE.—The 
term ‘‘interactive computer service’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 230(f) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)). 
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