Bipartisan law passed to protect children from online exploitation sponsored by GA Senator

WSBTV.com News Staff

May 12, 2024 at 10:35 AM·2 min read

A bipartisan bill to protect children from online exploitation has been signed into law.

The bill law, which was sponsored by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), will toughen penalties on websites and social media companies that fail to report crimes against children.

The REPORT Act will, for the first time, require websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving federal trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The law will increase fines for companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sex abuse material on their site.

It also requires that evidence is preserved for a longer period of time, giving law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute crimes.

“My bipartisan law with Senator Blackburn will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” said Sen. Ossoff. “At a time of such division in Congress, we successfully brought Republicans and Democrats together to protect kids on the internet, and now our bill is law.”

“Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that this leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” said Senator Blackburn. “Under this new law, Big Tech will now be required to report trafficking, grooming or enticement of children found on their sites to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline. I’m honored to champion this bipartisan solution alongside Senator Ossoff and Representative Laurel Lee to protect vulnerable children and hold perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable. I also appreciate the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s unwavering partnership to get this across the finish line.”

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

TechCrunch
Biden signs bill to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation
On April 29, Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-SC) proposed a bipartisan bill to protect children from online sexual exploitation. President Biden officially signed the REPORT Act into law on Tuesday. This marks the first time that websites and social media platforms are legally obligated to report crimes related to federal trafficking, grooming, and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's (NCMEC) CyberTipline.
TechCrunch
Bill to strengthen national tipline for missing and exploited children heads to Biden's desk
A bipartisan bill designed to protect children from online sexual exploitation is headed to President Biden's desk. Proposed by Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-SC), the REPORT Act aims to strengthen the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's (NCMEC) CyberTipline. When an online service provider detects child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the platform is legally required to report it to the CyberTipline.
Yahoo Life Shopping
Did you know that Amazon sells greenhouses? These 5 cost as little as $38
From permanent structures to portable options, there's a plant-nurturing solution for everyone.
Autoblog
Redesigned Nissan Murano interior caught in new spy shots
Nissan's midsize two-row is finally getting an overhaul; here's the new dash, which borrows some design elements from the all-electric Ariya.
Engadget
Leica takes on Fujifilm with the compact D-Lux 8
With small and stylish compact cameras like Fujifilm's X100 VI all the rage for influencers, Leica has decided to jump back into the game.
Yahoo Life Shopping
Summer savior: Amazon's No. 1 bestselling Black+Decker portable air conditioner is a cool $241 off for Memorial Day
It doubles as a dehumidifier and can make a large space 'icy cool in a hot minute,' according to one of 4,600+ fans.
Yahoo Tech
'So long, cable': The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is down to just $30 — one of its lowest prices ever
Been meaning to cut the cord? This easy-to-use gadget can help you, and it's 40% off.
Yahoo Tech
The best phone mount for your car in 2024, tested and reviewed
Eyes on the road, bub. These versatile, affordable mounts keep your phone right where you can see it.
Yahoo Finance
Nvidia's blowout earnings highlight a challenge in the AI age
Data centers running AI models require more energy. Where will it all come from?
TechCrunch
Remark puts thousands of human product experts into AI form
The two-year-old startup is helping shoppers buy with more confidence, said Theo Satloff, co-founder and CEO of Remark. It does this by pairing shoppers with high-quality product experts via an asynchronous live chat with one of 50,000 human experts — artists, musicians, stylists, golfers, ski instructors — who can discuss items just like a retail staffer would do. Remark also gives the human experts a cut of each sale made through the platform.
Yahoo Finance
Stock market today: Nasdaq, S&P 500 pop as Nvidia galvanizes stocks
Nvidia's blockbuster earnings have fired up optimism for AI's ability to fuel growth, eclipsing rate-hike worries for now.
TechCrunch
Bugcrowd, the crowdsourced white-hat hacker platform, acquires Informer to ramp up its security chops
On the heels of raising $102 million earlier this year, Bugcrowd is making good on its promise to use some of that funding to make acquisitions to strengthen its security chops. The company -- which crowdsources skills from more than half a million hackers to find and fix security vulnerabilities and other operational loopholes in companies’ networks and apps -- has acquired Informer, a specialist in assessing and maintaining attack surface management (ASM). ASM, which is a critical aspect of how security technology works these days, involves the use of a variety of techniques to continuously monitor potential attack vectors in an organization's IT environment.
Engadget
The Morning After: Starliner’s launch pushed back again
The biggest news stories this morning: Panasonic's new Fujifilm-killer, Starliner's scrubbed launch and another twist in the ScarJo / OpenAI tale.
Engadget
Microsoft outage impacts Bing, Copilot, ChatGPT internet search and other sites
Multiple Microsoft services including Bing and Copilot, along with ChatGPT internet search and DuckDuckGo are down in Europe.
Autoblog
The best LED headlights of 2024
If your current headlights are losing brightness and you need a bulb replacement, consider upgrading with a new set of LED headlight bulbs.
TechCrunch
Autonomous shipping startup Orca AI tops up with $23M led by OCV Partners and MizMaa Ventures
The so-called ‘autonomous navigation’ market -- where ships steer themselves guided by AI, resulting in fuel and time savings -- is projected to grow from $4.46 billion in 2023 to $5.33B in 2024 alone. Orca AI is a London-based startup that claims to have powered the world’s first autonomous commercial ship voyage in congested waters. Founded by Israeli naval technology experts, Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv, Orca AI’s platform processes multiple sources of visual information during navigation at sea, keeping the ship on course and freeing up the crew to monitor other aspects of the voyage, such as -- in increasingly unstable geopolitical times -- drone attacks and piracy.
Engadget
OpenAI didn't intend to copy Scarlett Johansson's voice, 'The Washington Post' reports
OpenAI cast the actor of Sky's voice months before Sam Altman contacted Scarlett Johansson, and it had no intention of finding someone who sounded like her, according to The Washington Post.
Yahoo Sports
Shohei Ohtani reportedly buys $7.85 million Los Angeles mansion from Adam Carolla
Ohtani will live about 20 minutes from Dodger Stadium.
Yahoo TV
'Maxton Hall' is Prime Video's biggest hit. Fans credit the chemistry between its stars.
Prime Video's slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance takes place in a heightened world of extreme privilege and family drama.
Yahoo News
Extreme weather is having a dire effects on animals. Here’s what’s being done to protect them.
As animals like howler monkeys fall dead from trees in Mexico due to high temperatures, conservationists explain their plan to protect wildlife during what is expected to be an unusually hot summer.

News

Life

Entertainment

Finance

Sports

New on Yahoo

Bipartisan law passed to protect children from online exploitation sponsored by GA Senator

Recommended Stories

Biden signs bill to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation

Bill to strengthen national tipline for missing and exploited children heads to Biden's desk

Did you know that Amazon sells greenhouses? These 5 cost as little as $38

Redesigned Nissan Murano interior caught in new spy shots

Leica takes on Fujifilm with the compact D-Lux 8

Summer savior: Amazon's No. 1 bestselling Black+Decker portable air conditioner is a cool $241 off for Memorial Day

'So long, cable': The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is down to just $30 — one of its lowest prices ever

The best phone mount for your car in 2024, tested and reviewed

Nvidia's blowout earnings highlight a challenge in the AI age

Remark puts thousands of human product experts into AI form

Stock market today: Nasdaq, S&P 500 pop as Nvidia galvanizes stocks

Bugcrowd, the crowdsourced white-hat hacker platform, acquires Informer to ramp up its security chops

The Morning After: Starliner’s launch pushed back again

Microsoft outage impacts Bing, Copilot, ChatGPT internet search and other sites

The best LED headlights of 2024

Autonomous shipping startup Orca AI tops up with $23M led by OCV Partners and MizMaa Ventures

OpenAI didn't intend to copy Scarlett Johansson's voice, 'The Washington Post' reports

Shohei Ohtani reportedly buys $7.85 million Los Angeles mansion from Adam Carolla

'Maxton Hall' is Prime Video's biggest hit. Fans credit the chemistry between its stars.

Extreme weather is having a dire effects on animals. Here’s what’s being done to protect them.