A new U.S. Senate bill introduced this week threatens security and free speech on the internet. EFF urges Congress to reject the STOP CSAM Act of 2023, which would undermine the viability of services offering end-to-end encryption, and force internet companies to take down lawful user content.
The bill is aimed at removing from the internet child sexual abuse material (CSAM), also known as child pornography. Existing law already requires online service providers who have actual knowledge of “apparent” CSAM on their platforms to report that content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which is essentially a government entity. NCMEC then forwards actionable reports to law enforcement agencies for investigation.
The STOP CSAM Act goes much further. The bill applies to “interactive computer services,” which broadly includes private messaging and email apps, social media platforms, cloud storage providers, and many other internet intermediaries and online service providers. The bill does four main things:
- It makes it a crime for providers to “knowingly host or store” CSAM or “knowingly promote or facilitate” the sexual exploitation of children, including the creation of CSAM, on their platforms.
- It creates a new civil claim and corresponding Section 230 carveout to encourage private lawsuits against internet companies and app stores for the “promotion or facilitation” of conduct relating to child exploitation, the “hosting or storing of child pornography,” or
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