SIGNED INTO LAW: Rep. Laurel Lee’s Bill to Help Stop the Online Exploitation of Children 

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Laurel Lee (R-FL) released the following statement after President Joe Biden signed into law S. 474, the Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology (REPORT) Act.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children, allowing electronic communication service providers 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 will help fight against the exploitation of children online by strengthening existing reporting procedures and requiring companies to disclose crimes involving child sexual abuse to NCMEC,” said Rep. Laurel Lee. “I am glad to see this crucial piece of legislation make its way to the President's desk and be signed into law."

Additional Co-Sponsors:

• U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
• U.S. Reps. Susie Lee (D-NV-03), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-01), and Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04).

“Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that this leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” said Senator Blackburn. “Under this new law, Big Tech will now be required to report trafficking, grooming or enticement of children found on their sites to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline. I’m honored to champion this bipartisan solution alongside Senator Ossoff and Representative Laurel Lee to protect vulnerable children and hold perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable. I also appreciate the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s unwavering partnership to get this across the finish line.”

“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 work 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.”

The bipartisan bill would provide much-needed reforms to the CyberTipline, such as:

• Adding sex trafficking of children and enticement crimes to reporting obligations by websites and social media platforms.
• Increasing penalties for failure to report exploitative content (fines up to $850,000).
• Requires websites and social media platforms to report violations of federal trafficking and enticement.
• Increases the time evidence that has been submitted to the CyberTipline is preserved by websites and social media platforms to give law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute.

Read the full text of the bill here. 
 

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