Blackburn’s bipartisan REPORT Act to protect children online gets signed into law

President Joe Biden on May 7 signed into law a bipartisan bill co-authored by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that makes changes to the federal framework governing the reporting of crimes involving the online sexual exploitation of children.  

“Children are increasingly looking at screens and the reality is that this leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” Sen. Blackburn said. “Under this new law, Big Tech will now be required to report trafficking, grooming or enticement of children found on their sites to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline.”

Specifically, the newly enacted Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology (REPORT) Act, S. 474, which Sen. Blackburn sponsored in February 2023 with lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), makes changes to the requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers to submit reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) when they become aware of violations involving the online sexual exploitation of children.

Among the changes, the new law increases the amount of time — from 90 days to 1 year — that a provider must preserve the contents of a report; requires providers to report on a violation that may be planned or imminent; and extends the requirement for providers to report apparent violations involving the sexual exploitation of children to instances involving child sex trafficking or coercion or enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution or any other illegal sexual activity, according to the congressional record bill summary.

Additionally, the new law increases the maximum fines for providers who knowingly and willfully fail to submit reports, among other provisions, the summary says.

“My bipartisan law with Sen. Blackburn will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” said Sen. Ossoff. “At a time of such division in Congress, we successfully brought Republicans and Democrats together to protect kids on the internet, and now our bill is law.”

The REPORT Act received endorsements from the NCMEC, the International Justice Mission, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the Fraternal Order of Police, ChildFund International, the End Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Coalition, and Microsoft, among many others.