STOP CSAM Act

Current understanding

The STOP CSAM Act of 2025 is a proposed federal framework that expands obligations on online service providers to report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to the CyberTipline within 60 days, creates new criminal and civil penalties for failures to report or for hosting/promoting CSAM, and broadens victim protections and civil remedies for survivors of child sexual exploitation. For individuals, it expands standing and civil causes of action for victims against platforms and other parties. For companies, it imposes tighter reporting timelines, new documentation duties, and heightened exposure to civil liability and criminal penalties for non-compliance. Status: introduced.

Evidence log

• 2025-06-26 — STOP CSAM Act of 2025: 2025-06-XX — STOP CSAM Act of 2025 reintroduction reiterates 60-day CyberTipline reporting with repeat-offender data, trustee restitution procedures, extended victim privacy protections, and provider bar on hosting CSAM or facilitating child sexual exploitation, backed by criminal and civil penalties. (novelty: 3) (novelty: 3)
• 2025-05-19 — TAKE IT DOWN Act: cross-connection with intimate-image-nonconsensual-disclosure: Both impose notice-and-takedown obligations on online platforms for harmful sexual content, with TAKE IT DOWN targeting nonconsensual intimate imagery/deepfakes and STOP CSAM targeting child sexual abuse material. (novelty: 4)
• 2026-03-02 — James T. Woods Act: Cross-connection with james-t-woods-act: parallel 119th Congress child-exploitation track — STOP CSAM focuses on platform CSAM reporting duties and victim civil remedies, while the James T. Woods Act expands the underlying federal criminal offenses (sextortion using CSAM, online coercion of minors) and directs CSAM sentencing-guideline updates. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-01-13 — Child Predators Accountability Act: Cross-connection with child-predators-accountability-act: parallel 119th Congress child-exploitation tracks — STOP CSAM targets platform reporting duties and victim remedies, while the Child Predators Accountability Act expands the underlying production offense to cover depiction and mere presence of a minor. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-03-16 — Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act: cross-connection with children-teens-online-privacy-protection-act: Parallel child-safety legislative tracks in the 119th Congress — privacy/consent extension to teens vs. CSAM reporting and victim remedies. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-01-13 — DEFIANCE Act of 2025: cross-connection with defiance-act-2025: Both address nonconsensual intimate/exploitative imagery online — STOP CSAM focuses on child sexual abuse material and platform liability, while DEFIANCE creates a civil remedy for AI-generated intimate deepfakes of any depicted individual. (novelty: 4)
• 2002-10-02 — Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002: Cross-reference: the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002 established the Cyber Tip Line reporting framework and national database that STOP CSAM Act’s 60-day CyberTipline reporting obligations build upon. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-06-11 — STOP CSAM Act of 2025: cross-connection with child-online-safety-software-access: Both are federal child online safety proposals targeting platform duties toward minors — Sammy’s Law via parental-monitoring interoperability APIs, and STOP CSAM Act via mandatory CSAM reporting and expanded victim remedies. (novelty: 3)

Open questions

Related