Senator Marsha Blackburn’s Bill To Protect Children From Cyber Crimes Signed Into Law
Image Credit: Sen. Marsha Blackburn / X
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that was recently signed into law aims to create a streamlined process for how online companies handle sexual exploitation of minors and will also increase penalties for companies that do not comply with reporting.
The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Blackburn and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia). It is known as the Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology Act, or the REPORT Act.
Under the previous federal law, social media companies were only required to report instances of child sexual abuse. The REPORT Act now makes it mandatory for those companies to also report enticing of children for sexual acts, grooming, and sex trafficking.
Those reports must be made through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyperTipline. NCMEC then forwards those reports on to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for follow up.
The law also enhances accountability by increasing penalties for companies that knowingly fail to report those crimes, with fines ranging from $150,000 to $1 million. The fine is based on the severity of the offense and the size of the company. Evidence must also be held for a year, instead of the current 90-day preservation time, so police have enough time to fully investigate reports.
Blackburn, who also sponsored the END Child Exploitation Act in 2022, has placed a great deal of emphasis on pushing for legislation that provides greater protections for children who spend time online.
“Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that the internet and social media leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” said Blackburn.
If Marsha Blackburn was REALLY concerned about child welfare from predators, she would not support so-called conversion therapy programs for non-conforming children. The counselors and supervisors who run these programs are a bunch of sexual predators themselves who subject children in their care to degrading and invasive mistreatment in order to “cure” them. If any of those counselors ever messed with my children, I would do everything as a patriotic tax-paying parent to see to it that these perverts never mess with anybody’s children. I hope I could resist the temptation to take the law into my own hands against the like of Marsha Blackburn and these conversion therapy staff.
May I also add that anybody who supports I.C.E. and D.E.A. detention officers is aiding and abetting child molesters. These I.C.E. officials shameless separate frightened migrant children from their parents and commit physical, mental, and sexual abuse on these children because, truth be told, I.C.E. officers are racist predatory thugs. If Marsha supports them, then she is knowingly supporting sexual predators who hide behind the badge.
Too little too late.
Just another feel good reactive bill rather than being proactive to shelter young minds.
All for favorable publicity.
Silicon Valley sends vast millions of dollars to the pockets of the Congress and Senate.
K Street should be renamed Bribe Street.