“As modern technology advances and evolves, so do the risks and threats facing our children,” Congresswoman McBath said. “We must give parents and law enforcement every tool necessary to put an end to child abuse and exploitation on the internet. I am so pleased that my legislation was included in the package that President Biden signed into law today. As a mother, I will never stop fighting for the safety of our children in their classrooms, at home, and online.”
The END Child Exploitation Act was included in the REPORT Act, a comprehensive bipartisan package to stop online child abuse. The package was led in the House by Reps. Susie Lee (NV-03) and Laurel Lee (FL-15) and in the Senate by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
“Nevada has one of the highest rates of human trafficking in the nation, and a sickening number of those crimes involve children,” said Congresswoman Susie Lee. “Abuse of children online must be met with swift and complete justice. This includes implementing the most state-of-the-art reporting technology, requiring Big Tech to report all instances of child abuse, and increasing penalties for those who fail to report these crimes against children. I’m proud to have worked with Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate to lead this legislation to protect our children, crack down on human trafficking, and hold those accountable who turn a blind eye to these sickening crimes.”
Background
The END Child Exploitation Act was first introduced in December 2019 following the release of a New York Times investigative report highlighting disturbing growth in online child exploitation across the country. The report found that technology companies reported more than 69 million images and videos depicting abuse in 2019. Currently, these companies are required to retain information on these images for 90 days after reporting the material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). However, this time is often not enough for law enforcement to conduct the necessary investigative process. The END Child Exploitation Act increases this time frame to 1 year and ensures these companies are legally able to retain the material longer, in compliance with NIST standards, to prevent the proliferation or spread of child exploitation material in cooperation with law enforcement.
The REPORT Act provides needed reforms to the NCMEC’s CyberTipline, the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children, allowing social media companies and other online platforms to make reports of activities such as child sex trafficking, enticement of children for sexual acts, and unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child. The REPORT Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress.