S. 1829 — STOP CSAM Act of 2025

This section revises definitions in 18 U.S.C. §3509(a) to protect child victims and witnesses in federal court proceedings, including (1) expanding the crimes qualifying a child (i.e., under age 18) as a victim to include kidnapping, including international parental kidnapping; (2) redefining "child abuse" to mean physical injury or psychological abuse (from physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, or negligent treatment) and adding a detailed definition of psychological abuse (i.e., patterns of degrading acts or coercive tactics, or inflicting trauma via isolation, withholding necessities, physical restraint, or degrading confinement); (3) redefining "exploitation" to mean child pornography, child sex trafficking, or an obscene visual depiction of a child (from child pornography or child prostitution); (4) expanding "multidisciplinary child abuse team" to specify representatives from health, social service, and legal service agencies representing the child; law enforcement and prosecutorial offices; and children's advocacy centers; (5) clarifying "sexually explicit conduct" to include lascivious exhibition of the anus or genitals (striking "or animal"); and (6) adding definitions of "covered person" (i.e., any age if under 18 at time of physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, or kidnapping, or witness thereto), "protected information" (i.e., personally identifiable, medical, educational, or court-designated information), "child pornography" (cross-referencing 18 U.S.C. §2256(8)), and "obscene visual depiction of a child." (Thus, protections extend to adult victims or witnesses of crimes against them as children.) The section also updates subsection (b) to replace references to "minor" with "child" and "videotape" or "videotaped" with "video recording" or "recorded" for depositions and testimony preservation; and revises subsection (d) to extend privacy orders and nondisclosure requirements to a covered person's protected information (from a child's name or information), with expanded enforcement for violations.

This section amends restitution provisions in 18 U.S.C. §§ 1593(c) (peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons) and 2248(c) (sexual abuse) to authorize the government, if deemed suitable by the court, to assume the rights of the victim. This section revises 18 U.S.C. 2259, which requires restitution to victims of child sexual exploitation offenses (i.e., full amount of losses including medical costs, therapy, lost income, and attorneys' fees), as follows: (1) requires courts to order restitution for any offense under § 1466A involving a visual depiction of an identifiable minor or chapter 110; (2) specifies restitution procedures for child pornography production offenses; (3) adjusts the minimum restitution order to $3,000 or 10% of the victim's losses if less than $3,000 (from $3,000 flat minimum); (4) expands and specifies the definition of child pornography production to encompass additional offenses (e.g., certain production, distribution, or conspiracy violations under §§ 2251, 2252, 2252A, 2260, 2260B, and related sex trafficking or kidnapping of minors); and (5) defines trafficking in child pornography to include specified non-production offenses (e.g., certain distribution, receipt, or transportation violations under §§ 2251(d), 2252, 2252A, 2260, and 2260B).

This section revises provider reporting requirements to NCMEC's CyberTipline under 18 U.S.C. 2258A(a)-(c) for apparent child pornography or facts indicating apparent, planned, or imminent violations of specified child sex trafficking and pornography statutes (i.e., 18 U.S.C. §§1591 [minor trafficking], 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2252B, 2260, 2422(b)). (As background, §2258A requires electronic communication and remote computing service providers—e.g., social media platforms, email, and cloud storage services—to report such material to facilitate law enforcement investigations into child sexual exploitation.) Specifically, the section (1) requires reports as soon as reasonably possible after obtaining actual knowledge, and in any event not later than 60 days (from 24 hours); (2) mandates inclusion of provider contact information and, if reasonably available, subject identifiers (e.g., name, address, email, account ID, IP address), terms of service, publicly available apparent child pornography or related chats, indicators on whether material was public or provider-viewed, whether it is computer-generated (e.g., AI-created or manipulated), previously reported, or multiply reported, and user-account materials from complaints if the user (or guardian) consents; and (3) permits, at provider discretion, additional details such as financial data (excluding personally identifiable information), minor identifiers, historical timestamps, geographic data, or other apparent child pornography. (Thus, reports based on user complaints require reasonable measures to assess includable account information, promoting targeted transparency while extending the reporting window.)

This section amends the civil remedy for victims of child sexual exploitation offenses (18 U.S.C. §2255(a)) to expand eligible plaintiffs beyond persons who were minors at the time of listed crimes (e.g., sex trafficking under §§1589-1591, sexual abuse under §§2241-2243, child exploitation under §§2251-2252A and 2260, sex trafficking of children under §§2421-2423) to also include (1) persons depicted as minors in child pornography who are victims of distribution offenses under §§2252, 2252A, or 2260(b), regardless of when the violation occurs; and (2) identifiable minors depicted in obscene visual depictions who are victims of §1466A, regardless of when the violation occurs. (Thus, victims may sue for actual damages or $150,000 in liquidated damages—even for injuries occurring after reaching adulthood—with no statute of limitations.) This section further adds a new civil remedy (18 U.S.C. §2255A) allowing victims of child pornography or child sexual exploitation to sue interactive computer service providers (e.g., social media platforms) or app stores for intentional, knowing, or reckless promotion or aiding/abetting of child sex trafficking or exploitation crimes (§§1591, 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2422(b), or conspiracies under §1594(c)) or for hosting, storing, or making child pornography available, with actual damages or $300,000 in liquidated damages (double the §2255 amount), attorney fees, punitive damages, and injunctive relief available and no statute of limitations. (Thus, §2255A explicitly overrides immunity under §230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. §230), provides safe harbors for good-faith legal compliance and encryption technologies, and subjects actions to reporting requirements under §2258B.)

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of the Act or its amendments, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its amendments, and their application to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.

This section provides that nothing in the Act or its amendments diminishes any right or remedy available to victims of child pornography or child sexual exploitation under (1) other federal laws, including claims under 18 U.S.C. §2255 (i.e., civil remedy allowing such victims to recover actual damages, liquidated damages of $150,000, attorney's fees, and punitive damages with no statute of limitations), or (2) state or tribal laws. It further specifies that the Act does not preempt enforcement of state or tribal laws that are at least as protective of victims' rights.