Title: Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017
This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify that communications decency provisions protecting providers or users of interactive computer services from liability for the private blocking or screening of offensive material shall not be construed to impair the enforcement of, or limit availability of victim restitution or civil remedies under, state or federal criminal or civil laws relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex trafficking.
The bill amends the federal criminal code to specify that the violation for benefiting from "participation in a venture" engaged in sex trafficking of children, or by force, fraud, or coercion, includes knowing or reckless conduct by any person or entity and by any means that furthers or in any way aids or abets the violation.
A provider of an interactive computer service that publishes information provided by an information content provider with reckless disregard that the information is in furtherance of a sex trafficking offense shall be subject to a criminal fine or imprisonment for not more than 20 years.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1865 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1865

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of 
such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users 
  of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and 
     civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex 
                  trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 3, 2017

  Mrs. Wagner (for herself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. 
 Clarke of New York, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New 
   York, Mr. Royce of California, Mrs. Roby, Mr. Kinzinger, and Ms. 
Jenkins of Kansas) 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 amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of 
such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users 
  of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and 
     civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex 
                  trafficking, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Allow States and Victims to Fight 
Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 230; commonly known as the ``Communications Decency Act 
        of 1996'') was never intended to provide legal protection to 
        websites that facilitate traffickers in advertising the sale of 
        unlawful sex acts with sex trafficking victims.
            (2) Clarification of such section is warranted to ensure 
        that such section does not provide such protection to such 
        websites.

SEC. 3. ENSURING ABILITY TO ENFORCE FEDERAL AND STATE CRIMINAL AND 
              CIVIL LAW RELATING TO SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN OR 
              SEX TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 230) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) to ensure vigorous enforcement against providers and 
        users of interactive computer services of Federal and State 
        criminal and civil law relating to sexual exploitation of 
        children or sex trafficking, including through the availability 
        of a civil remedy for victims of sex trafficking.''; and
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by inserting ``section 1591 of such 
                        title (relating to sex trafficking),'' after 
                        ``title 18, United States Code,'';
                            (ii) by striking ``impair the enforcement 
                        of section'' and inserting the following: 
                        ``impair the enforcement of, or limit the 
                        availability of victim restitution under--
                    ``(A) section''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``statute.'' and 
                        inserting the following: ``statute; or
                    ``(B) any State criminal statute that prohibits--
                            ``(i) sexual exploitation of children;
                            ``(ii) sex trafficking of children; or
                            ``(iii) sex trafficking by force, threats 
                        of force, fraud, or coercion.'';
                    (B) in the second sentence of paragraph (3), by 
                striking ``No cause of action'' and inserting ``Except 
                as provided in paragraphs (1)(B) and (5)(B), no cause 
                of action''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) No effect on civil law relating to sexual 
        exploitation of children or sex trafficking.--Nothing in this 
        section shall be construed to impair the enforcement or limit 
        the application of--
                    ``(A) section 1595 of title 18, United States Code; 
                or
                    ``(B) any other Federal or State law that provides 
                causes of action, restitution, or other civil remedies 
                to victims of--
                            ``(i) sexual exploitation of children;
                            ``(ii) sex trafficking of children; or
                            ``(iii) sex trafficking by force, threats 
                        of force, fraud, or coercion.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and the amendment made 
by subsection (a)(2)(C) (and, to the extent it relates to such 
amendment, the amendment made by subsection (a)(2)(B)) shall apply 
regardless of whether the conduct alleged occurred, or is alleged to 
have occurred, before, on, or after such date of enactment.

SEC. 4. ENSURING FEDERAL LIABILITY FOR PUBLISHING INFORMATION DESIGNED 
              TO FACILITATE SEX TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f);
            (2) in subsection (f), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by 
        adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) ``The terms `information content provider' and 
        `interactive computer service' have the meanings given those 
        terms in section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 230).
            ``(7) The term `participation in a venture' includes 
        knowing or reckless conduct by any person or entity and by any 
        means that furthers or in anyway aids or abets the violation of 
        subsection (a)(1).''; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e)(1) Whoever, being a provider of an interactive computer 
service, publishes information provided by an information content 
provider, with reckless disregard that the information provided by the 
information content provider is in furtherance of an offense under 
subsection (a) or an attempt to commit such an offense, shall be fined 
in accordance with this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or 
both.
    ``(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to require the 
Federal Government in a prosecution, or a plaintiff in a civil action, 
to prove any intent on the part of the information content provider.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendments.--Such section is further amended by 
striking ``subsection (e)(2)'' each place it appears and inserting 
``subsection (f)(2)''.
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