Dick Durbin, the Majority Leader in the US Senate, has proposed a new law to better protect children from images of sexual abuse. The draft Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act aims to remove “Child Sexual Abuse Material” (CSAM) from the Internet more effectively. Online service providers who are found to knowingly host or store abusive content, or promote or facilitate the sexual exploitation of children, including the creation of CSAM, could face prosecution.
The US civil rights organization, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has questioned the legislation’s scope, noting that it could undermine end-to-end encryption. The EFF has argued that overly broad and vague language could lead to new criminal and civil claims against providers for passive behavior, and could ultimately threaten digital security for all internet users.
Currently, service providers in the US are required to report any knowledge of potential depictions of abuse on their platforms to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The Stop CSAM Act would extend this requirement to all “interactive computer services,” including personal messaging and email apps, social media platforms, cloud storage providers, and other internet intermediaries and service providers.
However, the EFF also warns that a new notice-and-takedown system, to be monitored by a newly created committee for the protection of children on the internet, could force providers to remove or deactivate content before an independent authority or court has made a decision. This could be seen as a threat to freedom of expression on the internet, particularly if service providers can be sued for “facilitating” the sexual exploitation of children for simply providing a platform for content sharing.
