What This Bill Does
This bill strengthens how online platforms report child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. It protects certain people and companies from lawsuits when they report this content and requires platforms to keep reports for longer periods.
Who It Affects
Online service providers and platforms that host user content. Companies hired by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to handle reports. Individuals shown in child sexual abuse material who report it themselves or through a legal representative.
Key Provisions
• Online platforms must now report suspected sex trafficking of children and enticement of minors to the CyberTipline, in addition to child sexual abuse material (Sec. 4(a)).
• Companies hired by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children get protection from lawsuits when handling child sexual abuse material reports, unless they act with intentional misconduct, recklessness, or actual malice (Sec. 2(d)).
• Reports to the CyberTipline must be preserved for 1 year instead of 90 days (Sec. 3).
• Companies hired by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children must secure all material using current cybersecurity standards and undergo yearly security audits (Sec. 2(d)(3)).
• Individuals shown as minors in child sexual abuse material can report that material without facing lawsuits, unless they engaged in intentional misconduct or violations (Sec. 2(e)).
What Changes
Platforms now report more types of child exploitation crimes. Companies storing and handling reports receive legal protection in more situations. Reported content stays on file longer, giving investigators more time to act. All vendors handling sensitive material must follow stricter cybersecurity requirements.
Important Definitions
The bill defines "representative" as a parent, legal guardian, court-appointed guardian, hired lawyer, estate representative, or mandatory reporter under the Victims of Child Abuse Act. A representative cannot be someone who committed crimes related to child sexual abuse (Sec. 2(e)(4)).
Effective Date
This law applies to any lawsuit or criminal charge filed on or after May 7, 2024. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has 180 days from enactment to issue guidelines on identifying sex trafficking content (Sec. 4(b)).
PUBLIC LAW 118–59—MAY 7, 2024
REVISING EXISTING PROCEDURES
ON REPORTING VIA TECHNOLOGY ACT
VerDate Sep 11 2014
12:14 May 08, 2024
Jkt 049139
PO 00059
Frm 00001
Fmt 6579
Sfmt 6579
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL059.118
PUBL059
jmbennett on LAPBW6H6L3PROD with PUBLAW
138 STAT. 1014
PUBLIC LAW 118–59—MAY 7, 2024
Public Law 118–59
118th Congress
An Act
To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen reporting to the CyberTipline
related to online sexual exploitation of children, to modernize liabilities for such
reports, to preserve the contents of such reports for 1 year, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revising Existing Procedures
On Reporting via Technology Act’’ or the ‘‘REPORT Act’’.
SEC. 2. LIMITED LIABILITY MODERNIZATION.
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 2258B of title 18, United States
Code, is amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘providers or
domain name registrars’’ and inserting ‘‘the reporting,
storage, and handling of certain visual depictions of
apparent child pornography to the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children’’;
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting
‘‘or charge’’ after ‘‘a claim’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘this section,’’;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) LIMITED LIABILITY FOR NCMEC-CONTRACTED VENDORS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2),
a civil claim or criminal charge may not be brought in any
Federal or State court against a vendor contractually retained
and designated by NCMEC to support the duties of NCMEC
under section 404(b)(1)(K) of the Juvenile Justice and Delin-
quency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11293(b)(1)(K)).
‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR
OTHER
MISCONDUCT.—
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a claim or charge if the
vendor—
‘‘(A) engaged in—
‘‘(i) intentional misconduct; or
‘‘(ii) negligent conduct; or
‘‘(B) acted, or failed to act—
‘‘(i) with actual malice;
‘‘(ii) with reckless disregard to a substantial risk
of causing injury without legal justification; or
‘‘(iii) for a purpose unrelated to the performance
of any responsibility or function—
‘‘(I) set forth in paragraph (1); or
18 USC 1 note.
Revising Existing
Procedures On
Reporting via
Technology Act.
May 7, 2024
[S. 474]
VerDate Sep 11 2014
12:14 May 08, 2024
Jkt 049139
PO 00059
Frm 00002
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL059.118
PUBL059
jmbennett on LAPBW6H6L3PROD with PUBLAW
138 STAT. 1015
PUBLIC LAW 118–59—MAY 7, 2024
‘‘(II) pursuant to sections 2258A, 2258C, 2702,
or 2703.
‘‘(3) VENDOR CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS.—With respect
to any visual depiction provided pursuant to the duties of
NCMEC under section 404(b)(1)(K) of the Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11293(b)(1)(K))
that is stored or transferred by a vendor contractually retained
and designated by NCMEC to support such duties of NCMEC,
a vendor shall—
‘‘(A) secure such visual depiction in a manner that
is consistent with the most recent version of the Cybersecu-
rity Framework developed by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, or any successor thereto;
‘‘(B) minimize the number of employees that may be
able to obtain access to such visual depiction;
‘‘(C) employ end-to-end encryption for data storage and
transfer functions, or an equivalent technological standard;
‘‘(D) undergo an independent annual cybersecurity
audit to determine whether such visual depiction is secured
as required under subparagraph (A); and
‘‘(E) promptly address all issues identified by an audit
described in subparagraph (D).
‘‘(e) LIMITED
LIABILITY
FOR
REPORTING
APPARENT
CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY BY AN INDIVIDUAL DEPICTED IN THE CHILD PORNOG-
RAPHY AS A MINOR, OR A REPRESENTATIVE OF SUCH INDIVIDUAL.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2),
a civil claim or criminal charge may not be brought in any
Federal or State court against an individual depicted in child
pornography as a minor, or a representative of such individual,
arising from a report to the NCMEC CyberTipline by the indi-
vidual, or the representative of such individual, of information
that relates to the child pornography in which the individual
is depicted as a minor, including a copy of the child pornog-
raphy.
‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR
OTHER
MISCONDUCT.—
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a claim or charge if the
individual, or the representative of such individual—
‘‘(A) engaged in—
‘‘(i) intentional misconduct;
‘‘(ii) negligent conduct; or
‘‘(iii) any activity which constitutes a violation of
section 2251; or
‘‘(B) acted, or failed to act—
‘‘(i) with actual malice; or
‘‘(ii) with reckless disregard to a substantial risk
of causing injury without legal justification.
‘‘(3) MINIMIZING ACCESS.—With respect to any child pornog-
raphy reported to the NCMEC CyberTipline by an individual
depicted in the child pornography as a minor, or a representa-
tive of such individual, NCMEC shall minimize access to the
child pornography and ensure the appropriate deletion of the
child pornography, as set forth in section 2258D.
‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, the term
‘representative’, with respect to an individual depicted in child
pornography—
‘‘(A) means—
VerDate Sep 11 2014
12:14 May 08, 2024
Jkt 049139
PO 00059
Frm 00003
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL059.118
PUBL059
jmbennett on LAPBW6H6L3PROD with PUBLAW
138 STAT. 1016
PUBLIC LAW 118–59—MAY 7, 2024
‘‘(i) the parent or legal guardian of the individual,
if the individual is under 18 years of age;
‘‘(ii) the legal guardian or other person appointed
by a court to represent the individual;
‘‘(iii) a legal representative retained by the indi-
vidual;
‘‘(iv) a representative of the estate of the indi-
vidual; or
‘‘(v) a person who is a mandated reporter under
section 226(a)(1) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act
of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20341(a)(1)); and
‘‘(B) does not include a person who engaged in any
activity which constitutes a violation of section 2251.’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to a civil claim or criminal charge that
is filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) TABLE
OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking the item relating to section 2258B and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘2258B. Limited liability for the reporting, storage, and handling of certain visual
depictions of apparent child pornography to the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children.’’.
SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF REPORTS TO CYBERTIPLINE RELATED TO
ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN.
Section 2258A(h) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and inserting
‘‘1 year’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) EXTENSION OF PRESERVATION.—A provider of a report
to the CyberTipline under subsection (a)(1) may voluntarily
preserve the contents provided in the report (including any
comingled content described in paragraph (2)) for longer than
1 year after the submission to the CyberTipline for the purpose
of reducing the proliferation of online child sexual exploitation
or preventing the online sexual exploitation of children.
‘‘(6) METHOD
OF
PRESERVATION.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this paragraph, a provider of
a report to the CyberTipline under subsection (a)(1) shall pre-
serve materials under this subsection in a manner that is
consistent with the most recent version of the Cybersecurity
Framework developed by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, or any successor thereto.’’.
SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING OF DUTY TO REPORT APPARENT VIOLATIONS
TO CYBERTIPLINE RELATED TO ONLINE EXPLOITATION OF
CHILDREN.
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 2258A of title 18, United States
Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘, of section 1591
(if the violation involves a minor), or of 2422(b)’’ after ‘‘child
pornography’’; and
(2) in subsection (e)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$150,000’’ and
inserting ‘‘$850,000 in the case of a provider with not
less than 100,000,000 monthly active users or $600,000
Deadline.
Time period.
18 USC
prec. 2251.
18 USC 2258B
note.
VerDate Sep 11 2014
12:14 May 08, 2024
Jkt 049139
PO 00059
Frm 00004
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL059.118
PUBL059
jmbennett on LAPBW6H6L3PROD with PUBLAW
138 STAT. 1017
PUBLIC LAW 118–59—MAY 7, 2024
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 474:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 169 (2023): Dec. 14, considered and passed Senate.
Vol. 170 (2024): Apr. 29, considered and passed House.
Æ
in the case of a provider with less than 100,000,000
monthly active users’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$300,000’’ and
inserting ‘‘$1,000,000 in the case of a provider with not
less than 100,000,000 monthly active users or $850,000
in the case of a provider with less than 100,000,000
monthly active users’’.
(b) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children may issue guidelines, as appropriate, to providers required
or permitted to take actions described in section 2258A(a)(1)(B)
of title 18, United States Code, on the relevant identifiers for
content that may indicate sex trafficking of children, as described
in section 1591 of that title, or enticement, as described in section
2422(b) of that title.
Approved May 7, 2024.
Deadline.
18 USC 2258A
note.
VerDate Sep 11 2014
12:14 May 08, 2024
Jkt 049139
PO 00059
Frm 00005
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6580
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL059.118
PUBL059
jmbennett on LAPBW6H6L3PROD with PUBLAW