Title: Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight Back Act of 2020
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight Back Act of 2020
This bill establishes two new criminal offenses for knowingly distributing or possessing with the intent to distribute visual depictions of forced or coerced sex acts or the nonconsensual distribution of depictions of sex acts. An aggrieved individual may bring a civil action for violations.
Additionally, the bill requires websites that display visual depictions of sex acts to have procedures to remove those visual depictions that are in violation of the bill.
Violators are subject to criminal penalties.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4983 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4983

 To amend chapter 77 of title 18, United States Code, to combat human 
      trafficking and to strengthen civil remedies for survivors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2020

  Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend chapter 77 of title 18, United States Code, to combat human 
      trafficking and to strengthen civil remedies for survivors.

    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 ``Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight 
Back Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. VISUAL DEPICTIONS OF SEX ACTS OBTAINED BY COERCION OR 
              DECEPTION.

    Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``subsection (e)(2)'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``subsection (g)(2)'';
            (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g);
            (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e)(1)(A) Whoever knowingly distributes, or possesses with the 
intent to distribute, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or 
using a means of interstate or foreign commerce (including the 
internet), a visual depiction of a sex act by another person who is not 
less than 18 years of age, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact 
that the participation of that person in the sex act was induced by 
fraud, force, threats of force, deception, or coercion described in 
subsection (g)(2), or any combination of such means, shall be punished 
as provided in paragraph (4).
    ``(B) Whoever knowingly distributes, or possesses with the intent 
to distribute, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or using 
a means of interstate or foreign commerce (including the internet), a 
visual depiction of a sex act by another person or a visual depiction 
of another person the production of which involved conduct that would 
violate section 1801(a), knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact 
that the person did not consent to the distribution of the visual 
depiction, shall be punished as provided in paragraph (4).
    ``(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to limit the 
ability to prosecute under subsection (a) of this section or chapter 
110 an offense involving a victim of an offense described in paragraph 
(1) of this subsection who is less than 18 years of age.
    ``(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any distribution made in the 
public interest, including distributions that constitute a matter of 
public concern or distributions that are made as part of a lawful, 
common practice, such as legal proceedings, reports to law enforcement, 
or medical treatment.
    ``(4) Whoever violates paragraph (1) shall be fined under this 
title and imprisoned for any term of years not less than 5.
    ``(5)(A)(i) Any person who operates or provides an internet 
website, web service, or web application that displays visual 
depictions of sex acts shall--
            ``(I) provide a notice process described in subparagraph 
        (B) for individuals to make the person aware that the person is 
        distributing content created in violation of this section; and
            ``(II) designate an agent of the person to receive notice 
        under such a notice process and make available on the website, 
        web service, or web application operated or provided by the 
        person, in a location accessible to the public, the name, 
        address, phone number, and electronic mail address of the 
        agent.
    ``(ii) Any person who violates subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (C).
    ``(B) A notice process described in this subparagraph is an 
operation that readily enables a person depicted or authorized 
representative of the person depicted to provide to the designated 
agent substantially the following:
            ``(i) Identification of the visual depiction or depictions 
        claimed to include a sex act, or for which the production is 
        claimed to involved conduct that would violate section 1801(a), 
        that meets the requirements of paragraph (1).
            ``(ii) Identification of the sex act in the visual 
        depiction, or the portion of the visual depiction the 
        production of which involved conduct that would violate section 
        1801(a), that meets the requirements of paragraph (1).
            ``(iii) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the 
        person receiving the notice to contact the person depicted or 
        authorized representative of that person, such as an address, 
        telephone number, or electronic mail address.
            ``(iv) A brief statement--
                    ``(I) that the person depicted or authorized 
                representative of that person has a good faith belief 
                that the visual depiction includes a sex act involving 
                the person depicted, or the production of the visual 
                depiction involved conduct that would violate section 
                1801(a), that meets the requirements of paragraph (1); 
                and
                    ``(II) why the person depicted or authorized 
                representative of that person has that belief.
    ``(C) Whoever violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined under this 
title, imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both.
    ``(D) A person operating or providing an internet website, web 
service, or web application shall not be liable to any other person for 
any claim based on the operator or provider's good faith disabling of 
access to, or removal of, material the operator or provider believes 
includes a sex act, or believes the production of which involved 
conduct that would violate section 1801(a), meeting the requirements of 
paragraph (1).
    ``(6) It shall not be a defense to an alleged violation of 
paragraph (1) that a person did not receive notice under the notice 
process described in paragraph (5)(B).
    ``(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term `sex act' means--
            ``(A) sexually explicit conduct, as defined in section 
        2256(2)(A);
            ``(B) a sexual act, as defined in section 2246(2); and
            ``(C) the lascivious exhibition of the post-pubescent 
        female nipple or gametes on the body.
    ``(f)(1) An individual who is aggrieved of a violation of 
subsection (e)(1) may bring a civil action in an appropriate district 
court of the United States seeking appropriate relief.
    ``(2) Whoever violates the civil law of a State, territory, or 
Indian Tribe by coercing an individual into participating in a sex act 
shall be liable under Federal law for such a violation and subject to 
the same civil remedies that would be available under State, 
territorial, or Tribal law to the party injured if--
            ``(A) the sex act is a commercial sex act that occurred in 
        or affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or
            ``(B) a visual depiction of the sex act is distributed by 
        the defendant in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or 
        using a means of interstate or foreign commerce (including the 
        internet), knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that 
        the individual was coerced into participating in the sex act 
        depicted.
    ``(3) In this subsection--
            ``(A) the terms `coercing an individual into participating 
        in a sex act' and `coerced into participating in a sex act', 
        with respect to an individual, means the individual was induced 
        by force, threats of force, fraud, deception, or coercion (as 
        those terms are defined under the law of the applicable State, 
        territory, or Tribe) to participate in a sex act; and
            ``(B) the term `sex act' has the meaning given that term in 
        subsection (e).''; and
            (4) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) 
                as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) The term `deception' means intentionally misleading a 
        participant in a sex act about whether a visual depiction of 
        the sex act will be created or about whether or how broadly a 
        visual depiction will be distributed.''.

SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act, or 
any application of such provision or amendment to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful, the 
remainder of the provisions of this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act, and the application of the provision or amendment to any other 
person or circumstance, shall not be affected.
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