NASHVILLE, TENN. – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology (REPORT) Act, authored by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).

“In today’s technological age, children have become increasingly vulnerable to online sexual exploitation,” said Senator Blackburn. “There is an urgent need to address loopholes in reporting these crimes and to equip the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement with the resources they need to adequately respond. I thank Senator Ossoff for his bipartisan partnership in this effort, and I look forward to the REPORT Act’s swift passage out of the House and to the President’s desk.”   

“Our bipartisan bill will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online," said Senator Ossoff. "At a time of such division in Congress, we brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass this urgent legislation to protect kids on the internet.” 

•  U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) co-sponsored the REPORT Act.

• In July, Representatives Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), and Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• The REPORT Act is endorsed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), International Justice Mission (IJM), ECPAT-USA, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), Fraternal Order of Police, ChildFund International, the End Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OSEAC) Coalition, Wired Human, and Raven.

“The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) applauds the hard work by Senator Blackburn, Senator Ossoff, and all the Senate co-sponsors to pass the REPORT Act,” said Michelle DeLaune, NCMEC President & CEO. “Last year NCMEC’s CyberTipline received over 32 million reports containing more than 88 million images/videos and other content concerning child sexual exploitation, and the volume of online child sexual exploitation continues to exponentially rise. We look forward to continuing our work with Senator Blackburn and Senator Ossoff to ensure the safety of children online, and we encourage House Leadership to join the fight and bring the REPORT Act to the floor for a vote.”

•  The REPORT Act builds upon Senator Blackburn’s END Child Exploitation Act, which unanimously passed the Senate in 2022.
• Last updated in 2018, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children.

• Using this system, electronic communication service providers can make reports of activities such as child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), child sex trafficking, enticement of children for sexual acts, and unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child.

• Currently, criminal law requires electronic communication service providers to report, as soon as reasonably possible, any CSAM they know is on their sites. The law allows for voluntary reporting of imminent crimes involving child sexual abuse material (i.e., enticement or grooming).

• NCMEC makes all reports filed available to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

• A knowing and willful failure to report results in fines: $150,000 for the first incident and $300,000 for any second or subsequent violation.

•  Converts the reporting requirements from permissive to mandatory;
• Adds sex trafficking of children and enticement crimes to the reporting obligations within 180 days of the bill’s enactment;

• Increases penalties for failure to report exploitative content ($600K-$850K on the first offense; $850K-$1M on the second offense);

• Increases the time that evidence submitted to the CyberTipline is preserved, allowing law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute (from 90 days to 1 year).

• Allows for tipline reporting to NCMEC by people depicted in CSAM as minors and their representatives;

• Allows for the cloud storage and transfer of tipline reports from NCMEC to law enforcement; and

• Implements security measures to ensure the safe handling and storage of CyberTipline reports.

View the bill text here.