{ "id": 22638, "date": "2025-03-11T14:28:00", "date_gmt": "2025-03-11T06:28:00", "guid": { "rendered": "https:\/\/ijmhk.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=news&p=22638" }, "modified": "2025-03-25T15:35:49", "modified_gmt": "2025-03-25T07:35:49", "slug": "ijm-testifies-about-child-sexual-exploitation-before-senate", "status": "publish", "type": "news", "link": "https:\/\/ijmhk.org\/en\/news\/ijm-testifies-about-child-sexual-exploitation-before-senate\/", "title": { "rendered": "IJM Testifies About Child Sexual Exploitation Before Senate" }, "content": { "rendered": "

March 11, 2025, WASHINGTON D.C.,<\/strong> The UNITED STATES\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0International Justice Mission\u2019s (IJM) John Tanagho testified today before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. The hearing, \u201cEnding the Scourge: The Need for the STOP CSAM Act<\/a>\u201d is part of a larger effort by Congress to prevent online abuse and exploitation of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanagho, Executive Director for IJM\u2019s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children, testified at the invitation of Chair Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL). Tanagho urged Congress to take measures to actively prevent child exploitation online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongress should pass laws that incentivize companies to disrupt and deter the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, including live videos,\u201d said Tanagho. He noted that, while many victims of this crime are in the Philippines and other countries around the world, Americans are some of the largest offenders. Once these individuals reach the threshold for directing livestreamed abuse online, they have crossed a psychological barrier that opens the door for contact offending \u2013 meaning the risk to American kids is also real. Tanagho added, \u201cTo make America safer, we should invest in holding livestreaming offenders accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTougher laws and incentives for American technology companies to address this issue are desperately needed,\u201d said Nate King, U.S. Policy and Advocacy Director at IJM. \u201cThe entire industry must do more to detect, report and remove CSAM from their platforms, including livestreamed exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSenator Durbin and I have worked together on a number of initiatives. I don’t think any is more important than confronting the scourge of child sexual exploitation or CSAM,\u201d said Chair Hawley. \u201cIt is time to allow victims to have their day in court … You can’t sue these platforms; they’re protected by congressional legislation. It’s time to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hearing comes as legislation to combat online sexual exploitation of children, such as the STOP CSAM Act, is being considered and introduced in the 119th<\/sup> Congress. Tanagho advocated for components of the previous version of the bill: access to restitution for survivors via court-appointed trustees, enhanced CyberTipline report requirements to support victim and suspect identification, and recourse for survivors to require online platforms to remove their nonconsensual images and videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll CSAM victims have their dignity and privacy further ripped away from them when their abuse is captured in pictures or videos and put on display,\u201d said Ranking Member Durbin. \u201cThat’s why the STOP CSAM Act includes significant updates to federal law, such as creating a presumption in favor of keeping protected information under seal and providing the court with remedies against any attorney who does not comply with these privacy provisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elements of the proposed STOP CSAM Act will also maximize the efficacy of CyberTipline reports to help law enforcement better identify victims and offenders and require annual reports from large U.S.-based companies to provide more transparency about tech sector efforts to address CSAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full list of witnesses included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n