Lawmakers unite to protect children from online sexual exploitation with new legislation

On Tuesday, September 24, lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum took action against online sexual exploitation of minors by introducing the Protection of Child Victims from Online Predators Act.

These bipartisan efforts were led by Congressman Glenn Ivey (MD-4) and Congresswoman Laurel Lee (FL-15).

“We must stop these predators from acting on their worst impulses, and this bill will help us do that,” said Congressman Ivey.

Under Title 18 of the United States Code, any person who “willfully makes, prints, or publishes, or causes to be made, printed, or published, any communication or advertisement that solicits or offers to receive, exchange, purchase, produce, display, distribute, or reproduce a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct … or participation in an act of sexually explicit conduct by or with a minor” shall be punished.

To avoid being caught, sex offenders send personal messages to underage victims or other child exploiters to solicit or share child pornography.

The bipartisan bill introduced yesterday by Ivey and Laurel would amend Title 18 to clarify that a “notice” or “advertisement” seeking or offering child pornography can occur within a private, one-on-one communication, and that no public display or public communication is necessary to constitute an online sexual violation of a minor.

“We are seeing more and more children being exploited online in our country,” said Congressman Lee. “Protecting our children from online exploitation is one of my top priorities in Congress. This bipartisan bill will help protect children by ensuring that abusers who request or share child pornography through one-on-one communications are held accountable.”

A 2024 study by the University of Edinburgh found that 300 million children worldwide are victims of online sexual exploitation. This phenomenon is particularly exacerbated in the US, where one in nine men admits to having sexually abused a child online at some point.

“We need to protect children from pedophiles,” Ivey said. “This bill would ensure that across the federal legal landscape, any notice or advertisement from adults to children for explicit acts or images is consistent and clear. When it comes to one-on-one communications with minors from these purveyors of child pornography, this behavior harms children,” Ivey continued.