Hawley to Lead Hearing with Durbin on Combatting CSAM, Protecting Kids Online

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Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism—will convene ahearing, alongside Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), on the need to pass the lawmakers’ legislation to combat the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) crisis online.
This first Judiciary subcommittee hearing of the 119th Congress will feature witnesses directly or indirectly impacted by CSAM, including survivors, advocates, and law enforcement experts. Senator Hawley has called this subcommittee hearing in a renewed push to pass his bipartisanStop CSAM Actafter the Senate Judiciary Committeeunanimously advancedthe bill last Congress.
“Social media companies are rife with child sex abuse material, and Big Tech does nothing about it. It’s time to give parents and victims the power to sue and hold Big Tech accountable,”said Senator Hawley.
“Online child sexual exploitation is rampant and a scourge on our society, so I worked with survivors, prosecutors, law enforcement, victim advocates, and other stakeholders to draft theSTOP CSAM Act. Our bill takes a comprehensive approach to stemming the tide of online child sexual exploitation, and significantly, it pierces the broad immunity granted to Big Tech by Section 230. I thank Senator Hawley for joining me in this effort, and I look forward to emphasizing the need for our bill in our hearing on Tuesday afternoon,”said Senator Durbin.
Senator Hawley has been a tireless advocate for legislation holding Big Tech accountable and protecting kids online.
Last year, Senator HawleypressedMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg aboutchild exploitationon his social media platforms, leading Zuckerberg to apologize to the families of victims in the room.
Watch the hearing liveHEREat 2:30pm ET.

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