Tampa Republic

Congresswoman Laurel Lee expressed her satisfaction as her bill, the REPORT Act, passed the House of Representatives and advances to President Biden for approval. Lee stated, “The REPORT Act will help fight against the exploitation of children online by strengthening existing reporting procedures and requiring companies to disclose crimes involving child sexual abuse to NCMEC.” She commended the House and Senate for passing the crucial legislation to protect children from online threats.

Congresswoman Susie Lee, highlighting the high rate of human trafficking in Nevada involving children, emphasized the necessity of swift and comprehensive justice for online child abuse perpetrators. She stressed the importance of utilizing advanced reporting technology, mandating Big Tech to report child abuse instances, and imposing stricter penalties for those failing to report such crimes. Lee expressed pride in collaborating across party lines to safeguard children, combat human trafficking, and ensure accountability for those ignoring these heinous crimes.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline serves as the primary reporting system for online exploitation of children, enabling service providers to report activities like child sex trafficking and enticement of children for sexual acts.

The bipartisan bill, supported by Senators Marsha Blackburn, Jon Ossoff, Mike Lee, Bob Menendez, James Lankford, and Marco Rubio, as well as Representatives Susie Lee, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Madeleine Dean, introduces crucial reforms to the CyberTipline. These reforms include adding sex trafficking and enticement crimes to reporting obligations, increasing penalties for failure to report exploitative content, requiring reporting of federal trafficking and enticement violations, and extending the preservation time of evidence submitted to the CyberTipline for enhanced law enforcement investigation and prosecution.

The bill aims to enhance the fight against online child exploitation and promote a safer digital environment for children.