A bill to protect children from online sexual exploitation is moving ahead in the U.S. Senate. The bipartisan REPORT Act, short for Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology, sponsored by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff and Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn passed the senate judiciary committee Thursday. Senator Ossoff said the bills has support from both sides of the aisle.
The bill would strengthen the National Tipline run by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and would preserve evidence for a longer period, giving law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute crimes. The tipline received over 32 million reports last year.
It would also require websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving federal trafficking and enticement of children. Fines of up to $850,000 face companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sexual abuse material.
