Active Holds (1)
Legislation
On hold for 7 months
since Jun 25, 20252 meetings related to this legislation
Strengthens federal protections for child victims of sexual exploitation and child pornography, expands reporting and preservation duties for online providers, creates new civil and criminal causes of action against platforms and apps that host or promote such content, and authorizes court-managed trust accounts and limited funding to hold restitution for victims. It also protects victim privacy in court, tightens restitution rules and enforcement, requires annual accountability reports from large providers, and preserves other federal, state, and tribal remedies for victims.
Adds a new statutory definition of “covered person” as a person of any age who (A) is or is alleged to be a victim of physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, or kidnapping (including international parental kidnapping), or a witness to a crime against another person, and (B) was under age 18 when the crime was committed. (Amendment to 18 U.S.C. 3509).
Defines “protected information” for a covered person to include: personally identifiable information (name, address, phone, online identifiers, or other identifying data), medical/behavioral/psychiatric records, educational or juvenile justice records, and any other information the court orders to be protected under the subsection.
Adds/clarifies definitions for terms: (a) “psychological abuse” as a pattern of acts, threats, or coercive tactics intended to degrade, humiliate, intimidate, or terrorize a child and includes isolation, withholding necessities, physical restraint, or confinement in degrading conditions; (b) “exploitation” to mean child pornography, child sex trafficking, or an obscene visual depiction of a child; (c) “multidisciplinary child abuse team” as a unit of health, social service, legal, law enforcement/prosecutorial, and children’s advocacy representatives.
When preparing the presentence report under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(c), the probation officer must request information from the multidisciplinary child abuse team (if applicable) or other appropriate sources to determine the impact of the offense on a child victim and any other children affected.
A guardian ad litem appointed under subsection (h) must (A) make every effort to obtain and report information that accurately expresses the views of a child victim and appropriate family views about the impact of the offense, and (B) use forms that let the child express those views in communication and at a level appropriate to the child’s age and ability.
Who is affected and how:
Children and child victims: Receive stronger privacy protections in federal proceedings, expanded definitions of exploitation, and broader access to restitution and civil remedies; restrictions reduce public dissemination of sensitive details and criminal/ civil reproduction of illicit images.
Victims and survivors generally: Gain expanded paths for civil recovery (including a new federal cause of action with liquidated damages and no statute of limitations), stronger restitution enforcement tools (trustee accounts), and preserved access to state and tribal remedies.
Online platforms, app stores, and large service providers: Face clearer and stricter reporting and preservation obligations to NCMEC, annual public accountability reporting requirements, potential criminal liability for knowing failures, and increased civil exposure where content is promoted or made available through their services; definitions for "app" and "app store" broaden the potential scope of liability.
Law enforcement and NCMEC: Receive more detailed, standardized reports and statutory direction on information sharing; increased reporting may change investigative workloads and priorities.
Federal courts and trustees/fiduciaries: Must implement trustee/account mechanisms for restitution, manage fee and collection rules, and handle expanded victim-protection procedures; courts receive limited annual funding to support these new responsibilities.
Civil litigants and attorneys: Will see new procedural rules, expanded standing to sue, no filing deadlines for the new federal cause of action, and clearer remedies; defense strategies may increasingly involve encryption, compliance defenses, and First Amendment/Section 230-related arguments.
Overall effect: The legislation raises protections and recovery options for victims while substantially increasing compliance, reporting, and liability obligations for digital platforms and related service providers. It centralizes some restitution administration within the federal courts and formalizes reporting channels through NCMEC. The law likely increases litigation against platforms and requires significant provider operational changes (detection, preservation, reporting, public accountability).
Last progress May 21, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on May 21, 2025 by Joshua David Hawley
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Updated 4 weeks ago
Last progress April 11, 2024 (1 year ago)
Updated 1 hour ago
Last progress June 11, 2025 (7 months ago)
