Show-Me State Times

On May 11, 2023, during a Senate Judiciary Committee Markup, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reached an agreement with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to advance the STOP CSAM Act, legislation sponsored by Senator Durbin that cracks down on the proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online.

With Senator Durbin’s support, the Committee adopted Senator Hawley’s amendment empowering victims to bring civil suits against platforms for knowingly hosting CSAM to better hold tech companies accountable. Senator Hawley also joined the STOP CSAM Act as the first Republican co-sponsor of the legislation, which passed the Committee unanimously and now heads to the Senate floor.

“I’ve just become convinced that maybe the only way to get the attention of these platforms is to give individuals the right to get into court," said Senator Hawley. "For the first time, [this legislation] will allow victims of this material to get into court and to sue the people who made it, but also those platforms who knowingly hosted."

Original source can be found here.