Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Stopping The Exploitation Of Children Online
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Children’s Safety in the Digital Era: Strengthening Protections and Addressing Legal Gaps.” Durbin questioned Mary Leary, a Law Professor at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, about Section 230 immunity. In his remarks, Durbin cited his own experience going after Big Tobacco and in turn, how Congress can use that experience as a guide to go after Big Tech companies when keeping children safe online.
“Over 30 years ago in the House, I introduced a little bill that banned smoking in airplanes. It passed… And it triggered a conversation and discovery process and Attorney Generals across the country gathered and did something significant with this industry. I’d like you to expound a bit about how [this standard] precludes our knowledge of what is actually going on in Big Tech and their response to this challenge [online safety]. I think the gathering of information from the tobacco companies, and the demonstration of their lying to the public about the product really led to their [Big Tobacco’s] downfall. The same could be true here,” said Durbin.
Professor Leary responded, “I think you are 100% correct on that.” She continued to say, “when a defendant has a defense, there is a period of discovery beforehand where the plaintiffs who have made a good faith claim and get information to build on their case, and the defendants can provide information that may exculpate them. The way that Section 230 has been interpreted, it is an immunity.” Professor Leary continued to say that thanks to Congressional investigations and Congressional hearings, the public is more aware of what Big Tech is doing.
Video of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.
During his time as Chair, Durbin and the Committee extensively examined the plague of online child sexual exploitation through hearings, legislation, and oversight efforts. On January 31, 2024, the Committee held a hearing featuring testimony from the CEOs of social media companies Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter). This hearing highlighted the ongoing risk to children and the immediate need for Congress to act on the bipartisan bills reported by the Committee. Last Congress, the Committee also reported out Durbin’s STOP CSAM Act, which provides a comprehensive response to online child sexual exploitation by supporting victims and increasing accountability and transparency for online platforms. During today’s opening statement, Durbin announced he plans to re-introduce the STOP CSAM Act again this Congress.
This week, Durbin will join U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to introduce a bill that would sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in two years. Section 230—and the legal immunity it provides to Big Tech—has been on the books since 1996—long before social media became a part of our daily lives. To the extent this protection was ever needed, its usefulness has long since passed.
In addition to the STOP CSAM Act, since February 2023 and under then-Chair Durbin’s leadership, the Committee unanimously reported multiple bipartisan bills to help stop the exploitation of kids online, including:
- The EARN IT Act, which removes Big Tech’s blanket immunity from civil and criminal liability for CSAM and establishes a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention;
- The SHIELD Act, which ensures that federal prosecutors have appropriate and effective tools to address the nonconsensual distribution of sexual imagery;
- The Project Safe Childhood Act, which modernizes the investigation and prosecution of online child exploitation crimes; and
- The REPORT Act, which combats the rise in online child sexual exploitation by establishing new measures to help strengthen reporting of those crimes to the CyberTipline.
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