Active Holds (1)
Legislation
On hold for Jun 25, 2025
since Jun 25, 2025
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Joshua David Hawley · Last progress May 21, 2025
The bill strengthens privacy protections, restitution, reporting, and civil remedies for victims of child sexual exploitation and trafficking, but does so by expanding platform liability, increasing government spending and information-sharing, and raising litigation and privacy risks that may chill speech and burden courts and providers.
Children who are victims or witnesses gain stronger nondisclosure and privacy protections in court records, with higher judicial thresholds for public disclosure and dedicated funding to help courts implement those protections.
Survivors (including adults depicted as minors) gain expanded civil remedies — including a new federal cause of action, ability to sue regardless of when the harm occurred, and removal of time limits — improving options for compensation and redress.
Child victims of pornography production/trafficking have mandatory restitution available and courts can appoint trustees/fiduciaries to hold and manage payments, supported by dedicated appropriations to improve delivery and protections for victim funds.
Interactive platforms and app stores face substantial new legal exposure (statutory damages, attorney fees, and a §230 carveout), creating large potential liabilities that could raise costs for users and businesses and strain small services.
Broader mandatory reporting, preservation, and information-sharing (including sharing with law enforcement and designated foreign partners) increases collection and cross-border sharing of personally identifying information about users and minors, raising privacy and immigrant-protection concerns.
The bill increases federal outlays (notably $25M/year and $15M/year appropriations plus directed uses of fines), creating fiscal costs that may divert resources from other priorities or require offsets.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Expands criminal and civil protections for child-exploitation victims, increases restitution, requires online platforms to report suspected child exploitation to the CyberTipline, and narrows certain platform immunities.
Revises federal criminal and civil law to strengthen protections and remedies for children who suffer sexual abuse, exploitation, child pornography, trafficking, or kidnapping. It broadens legal definitions, increases court-ordered restitution, expands who may sue in federal court, and creates a new federal civil cause of action allowing victims to sue online platforms and app stores for certain knowing or reckless conduct without a statute of limitations. Requires online service providers to report suspected child exploitation to the national CyberTipline within 60 days, expands the information those reports must include, and narrows portions of platform immunity and "good faith" safe-harbors; it also increases information protections for child victims in federal proceedings and preserves other federal, State, and Tribal remedies.