Show-Me State Times

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, is set to lead a hearing today with Ranking Member Dick Durbin. The focus will be on the urgent need to pass legislation addressing the crisis of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) online.

This marks the first Judiciary subcommittee hearing of the 119th Congress. It will include testimonies from individuals directly or indirectly affected by CSAM, such as survivors, advocates, and law enforcement experts. Senator Hawley has initiated this hearing in an effort to advance his bipartisan Stop CSAM Act after it was unanimously advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee last Congress.

"Social media companies are rife with child sex abuse material, and Big Tech does nothing about it. It’s time to give parents and victims the power to sue and hold Big Tech accountable," stated Senator Hawley.

Senator Durbin added, "Online child sexual exploitation is rampant and a scourge on our society, so I worked with survivors, prosecutors, law enforcement, victim advocates, and other stakeholders to draft the STOP CSAM Act. Our bill takes a comprehensive approach to stemming the tide of online child sexual exploitation, and significantly, it pierces the broad immunity granted to Big Tech by Section 230. I thank Senator Hawley for joining me in this effort, and I look forward to emphasizing the need for our bill in our hearing on Tuesday afternoon."

Senator Hawley has consistently advocated for holding Big Tech accountable and ensuring children's safety online. Last year, he questioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding child exploitation on social media platforms, prompting an apology from Zuckerberg to victims' families present at that meeting.

The hearing can be watched live at 2:30 p.m. ET.